Pride and Miners
by QuietReaderWriter
Summary: PKMN Trainer Aine is a red-haired, witty, yet reserved young lady who recently discovers her passion for fossils while on her journey. She thus visits Oreburgh City since it's here that she may best pursue her new interest, but will suffer from unexpected happenings, including a stubborn, arrogant, loud young man who is gym leader, his pokémon, and his constant scoldings.
1. We Need Intros, Don't We?

**Notice: This chapter has been edited so that it is two chapters combined. By that I mean, I basically made the original chapters one and two into a single chapter. They were both pretty short respectively, so I thought combining them would be a shrewd thing to do. Anyway, none of this affects the story itself, for the plot is still the same. So yeah. Enjoy!**

* * *

**Hello, Pokemon fandom. I am enthusiastic about writing my first story for one my favorite fandoms, albeit I have been reading Pokemon fanfictions ever since I started out here in general. With that said, this is indeed a story where an OC is its protagonist. There is also Sinnoh leader Byron.**

**In the anime and games, I've always liked the Byron-Roark father/son duo, and it's mentioned how Roark has an unnamed mother and Byron an unnamed wife, so then I go on FF - Pokemon section of course - and search any stories depicting this unknown woman. The results are disappointing, because there are none! So I have taken it upon myself to write such a story.**

**This chapter, however, features no Byron and provides mostly information on Aine, so you, the Reader, may get acquainted to my original character. I mean, I've seen some other OC stories (in several fandoms) where it basically rushes into the plot, and that's not right.**

**Therefore, the first chapter of this story is brought to you as:**

**We Need Intros, Don't We?**

Aine, a young woman of twenty, was a native of the Sinnoh region's Celestic Town, came from an average family, and was nine years delayed in starting her pokémon adventure; she had only started one year ago, for unlike most other kids, she had wanted to further continue and complete school. She had no problem with it, but being more educated than most kids and teenagers did give her a sense of superiority, although she never boasted about it. She was not of that type. In fact, she had always been a reserved person, and only spoke when necessary.

Even though she had started her pokémon adventure a mere year ago, she still read extensively about both pokemon and non-pokémon related subjects. Of pokémon-related things, she had recently finished reading a few books about fossils of prehistoric pokémon, a topic that interested her more than she originally thought. In Sinnoh, the current place where she could find more information and actually see fossils themselves was in Oreburgh City. This was Aine's prospect.

As for the gym badges she was collecting, she had so far three; and while on her trip to Oreburgh she was planning to face that city's gym leader as well, so things were looking good.

Surprisingly enough, she had three pokémon on her team (albeit she did have more back in her hometown's Pokémon Center, who were taking a break from the adventure): a charismatic and entertaining Prinplup; a more reflective, reserved Bronzor; and the physical presence of her team, a Scyther.

On their way to Oreburgh, Aine and her pokémon stopped in grasslands for the night, for they needed rest and there was no Pokémon Center nearby. Scyther quickly slashed up some grass with her blade wings and made two grass beds for herself and her trainer. The other two preferred to sleep in their pokeballs. Aine gave Scyther a "thank you" and "goodnights" to all three of them.

She laid on the grass-bed that was made for her, and recalled a discussion with her mom two months ago about what she had wanted to settle down as.

_"I'm only twenty, Ma, and it's only been a year since I've started my 'pokemon adventure' like they say. I want to continue traveling, catching pokémon and getting gym badges."_

_"Yes, honey, I understand, but pokémon training is not a profession. Sure, you can make money by winning your battles, but the whole journey is bound to get more difficult. Realistically, do you think that you're going to be able to beat the eight gym leaders, the Elite Four, and the Champion? That isn't reasona-"_

_"I'm a realistic person, Ma. I'm not going to be a nomadic pokémon trainer all my life. I don't know what I want to do career-wise, yet, but I will at some -"_

_"Well, you'd at least better start considering some options. Being a pokémon or human doctor, for instance, will earn you big money. I only want for you to be rich and successful, OK?"_

_"Wealth and success don't equate to happiness, Mama. I could not be happy doing something I have no passion for, and being a doctor- pokémon or human - is such a complex profession that I'm not fit for. I'm not saying I can't do it, because I probably can, but I'll have no passion for it. I need to find something out there, but not necessarily so soon. Give me time." _

_"Whatever your passion may be, it better be high-paying."_

And thus ended her recollection. She could not stop thinking about this lately, because it was true that at some point she needed to settle down as some sort of professional, but she knew not what yet.

_You have time enough to decide on your future, Aine, so stop this, and go to sleep. You are only wearying yourself out more with this excessive thinking._

She was startled at this for a moment, but then remembered it was only her Bronzor talking to her in her mind...

Which was a nuisance sometimes.

_And you oughtta stop getting into my head so much, Bronzor. Go to sleep yourself._

Knowing that they were soon going to arrive in Oreburgh gave Aine solace; and Bronzor could tell, despite its being in a pokeball, that she willingly went to sleep awaiting the next day to continue their travels.

* * *

Upon their arrival to the city of Oreburgh, Aine and her pokémon were a little more ecstatic than usual, especially the young lady. A new city meant new souveiners, a new gym badge, perhaps a few acquaintances, but generally staying away from the company of others, which was all the case for Aine.

What made this city a little more special from the ones she visited previous, was that she came here looking for more beyond a gym badge and some souveiners; she came here to explore the world of fossils. Could this be her meant-to-be fulfillment?

_Most likely not,_ she thought, _I'm only__ a __year into this_. _Even though I've taken a_ _liking to fossils, I'll probably move on to something larger, something that my mother would feel good enough for_ me. _I doubt this is it._

Aine, in her white-blue sundress, would not have made anybody think that she was there mostly for the fossils. What would a twenty-year old woman with no real skill in mining do?

But that didn't matter. She relied heavily on her book knowledge, thinking it to be much more efficient than practicality.

Apparently, according to one of her books and her map, the Museum was in the northeastern part of the city, and the Oreburgh Mine was all the way in the south of it, and she asked her pokémon to which site should they go to first.

They, who were all out of their pokeballs to enjoy a walk throughout the city, all readily agreed that the Oreburgh Museum was a more rational choice, given Aine's lack of experience in an environment such as the mine.

"I definitely want to go to both, but I'm actually more inclined towards the mine right now."

Her Prinlup said that she would not be safe.

"Unless you all are _not_ going to accompany me to the mine, then I don't see much danger."

She had a point, she had her pokémon, who never gave second thoughts about protecting their trainer.

And so they went. Aine would have stopped by to some other places on the way to the mine, but she decided that later would be her best bet. She was eager to visit the mine immediately. The fossils she would see!

She was willing to burst out of herself to see them.

* * *

The walk to the south of the city where the mine was, was about forty minutes long, because when they entered Oreburgh, they were in the north.

The sight of it was glorious; it was large, well-operated, and not as filthy as one would originally think. Miners and surveyors and other engineers with their pokemon were scattered all over the place, working here and there; most of whom were men, which disappointed Aine, but her eagerness was nevertheless intact. She went up to a person, and enquired:

"Sir? May I...are trainers allowed in the mine?"

The guy's attention focused on her, and replied: "Oh, yeah...but only to train and look around a bit. Don't catch any pokémon, and unless you absolutely have to, don't KO any pokémon. Also, there are some signs down there that specifically tell you not to go in certain places. Follow all those rules, and you're fine."

She muttered a "thank you" and was going to make her way there, but the guy called her back.

"Oh, miss! And you can't have more than one pokémon walking by you. Sorry about that."

She turned to her pokémon. "You heard what he said..."

Scyther immediately stepped up, always thinking that she was best at protecting her trainer.

Aine seemed hesitant. "I appreciate it, Scyther, but allow someone else this time. Fairness, yes?"

Scyther seemed reluctant herself, but understood.

Bronzor then suggested that it was not the best protector.

Prinplup, eager for his chance, was then the pokémon who would stay out of his pokeball. The other two went back in theirs.

Aine and Prinplup thus stepped in the mine, and marveled at the sight.

The mine, in all its tough glory, seemed like the quintessential place to train.

They saw many a mine worker and other trainers. There was a conveyor belt that extended all throughout, in addition to other sorts of complicated machinery that Aine could not comprehend. She chuckled though, thinking of what her mother would say of this. _Complicated machinery? Engineering, you mean? Definitely! Large money._

"Now...we're in here, but where are the fossils? We're not going to be stuck here wandering about aimlessly. I'm no idiot." Like always, Aine had a point, but also worried that she would not get to achieve what she wanted, yet she did not let this worry show.

_Perhaps you_ should_ wander about aimlessly, see where it takes you. You never know. But don't act irrationally._

"Sometimes I wish you'd stay silent," Aine said, although she did realize the wisdoms her pokémon offered her.

Therefore commenced the 'wandering around' by Aine and Prinplup, the former ambitious to get what she wanted; the latter and his peers hoping the quest come out successful.

Perhaps only Arceus knew of what would soon come.

**OK! There is the first chapter! How do you like, or dislike Aine? How was this as a whole? As a sidenote, let me tell you that Roark has not been born in this story, obviously. Thus, he is not the Oreburgh Gym Leader; and apparently, according to the anime, Byron was the Oreburgh GL before he was the Canalave GL, so that's how it is in this story.**

**Like any other FF author would say, review!**


	2. Trouble in the Mines

**A/N: Is anyone even reading this story? I've got a follow for it thus far so I am supposing that yes. Anyway, this chapter will have a nice surprise (although unpleasant for my OC).**

**Trouble in the Mines   
**

Aine and Prinplup continued through the mines - this place was extraordinary! How people and pokémon together could dedicate themselves to the excavation of not only valuable minerals, but also prehistoric fossils that would surely serve for some new Pokémon knowledge, was amazing to Aine.

In fact, her awe and fascination with the whole thing, made her explore even deeper into the mines, losing herself both mentally and physically in the process.

It wasn't until Aine tripped on some very round rock, and yelled out some choice swear words, that she came back to her senses.

The rock fidgeted after she tripped, and she looked back at it as if it almost killed her, and she was about to get up and clean herself off, when the rock expanded with arms, revealing it to be a Geodude.

The Geodude cried an annoyed cry, and Prinplup was going to act out in order for his trainer to avoid being killed again, but the Geodude nonchalantly rolled away instead of attacking.

Relieved, Aine inhaled, exhaled, and cleaned herself and her bag off.

Focused and aware now, she found out that she was lost.

Lost, with no way to get out; she had wandered off and around so carelessly that she briefly thought she wasn't in a structured part of the mine anymore, although she did see some excavation material nearby, so she got rid of that thought immediately.

She looked around, realizing a "DO NOT GO FURTHER IN" sign where there was a small entrance to a cave-like room.

She wondered why no one could go in, what could be in there? The first, mild signals of curiousity took over her, and she peered inside the cave. Despite its small entrance, it was spacious within. However, she noticed many holes in the walls. Could a bunch of Diglett be waiting to attack anyone who entered? But no, most of the holes were too narrow for Diglett to come out of them. She'd take out her other two pokémon just in case, though.

_Am I actually thinking of going inside? _

Curiosity fought to be acknowledged, and like with most humans, Aine gave in.

Prinplup, always a spirited, encouraged soul, was ready to defend his trainer at any given time, and agreed to have Scyther and Bronzor assist.

They went in. Aine immediately noticed the largest hole in the back wall of the cave, and could see that something was being dug out, but whoever was doing it clearly did not finish. She neared it, along with her Prinplup, and got a closer look.

"It's a fossil, Prinplup! Goodness, I wonder which one it could be, or if it's something that no one's discovered yet. Could it be an Anorith fossil? Or maybe a Kabuto. Wait. No. What if it's an Aerodactyl?" She effervesced, but then remembered that Aerodactyls came from Old Ambers, and this was surely not one.

Still, the excitement in her could not be contained; oh, how she wished she could be able to mine! But she could not work a mining tool to save her life. Instead, she pulled out from her bag, _The Various Fossils of the World, and How To Identify Them: A Guide_. She felt obliged to find out what this fossil was.

"I'm sorry, Prin. Can you...y'know, watch over me as I do this? Make sure no wild pokémon attack us, or alert me if somebody's coming? If you can't by yourself, I can bring out Bronzor or Scyther like I suggested before...And before Bronzor says that only one pokémon's allowed to be with me at hand," she addressed to one of her pokeballs, with a smirk, "nobody, other than us, is down here. Woops!"

Thus Bronzor and Scyther came out, not giving second thoughts about protecting their trainer. Scyther took her place outside of the small entrance, knowing she was the best attacker of Aine's pokemon. Bronzor and Prinplup stayed in the cave, in case some random wild pokémon were to come out of nowhere from within.

"Thanks guys, you truly are the best," Aine said to her pokémon appreciatively, as she ought to have been.

She then analyzed the large, half-dug out fossil, put her hand on it, and ran her fingers throughout it; it was, again, a huge fossil inside an equally huge rock, and she was excited. However, she did not get distracted - she took up her book, and opened it, skimming through the leaves, attempting to find a picture of a fossil that looked similar to the one at hand; while skimming, she glanced at the fossil several times, and she memorized how it looked like.

"Here it is!" At once she exclaimed when she found the page in which this fossil was featured. "'Helix Fossil; Helix Fossils, usually measuring in between 6 in. and 1 foot 4 in. (6 - 16 inches), are of a prehistoric, sea-dwelling pokémon that is better known as Omanyte. This type of fossil is found near beaches, ponds, and other bodies of water. However, very few are found in caves near water or where there used to be water. These tend to be larger than two feet and are extremely rare; as a result, if the fossil is to be revived, the reborn Omanyte will be taller, longer, and bigger than its usual size."

Right next to the description, was the picture of the Omanyte fossil, which was also the one at hand. Size was the only difference. The fossil at hand was much bigger. In fact...

"Measuring tape! Must take out!" Aine exclaimed, scouring her bag for a while until pulling out said measuring tape. The young woman eagerly proceeded to find the length of the fossil, and this one was indeed rare, for it was...

"Four feet and one-fourth of an inch! Guys, I am looking at a rarity here!...But, agh! I can't work a mining pick to save my life."

Bronzor suggested that she should not seek to take the fossil either way, as it was evident that someone had already started digging it out.

"You're right, but I can't resist the urge. Only if I knew how to -"

A piercing pokémon shriek interrupted her. Immediately, she withdrew and closed her book, a feeling of alert peeking within her. Her three pokémon's protective instincts turned on, and Scyther, who was at the front of them all where the entrance was, cried for them all to get out of there. It did not take too long, as Aine, Prinplup, and Bronzor rushed out. Aine could only steal a glance at the owner of the shriek: a Skarmory.

She hardly had enough time to curse something out before the Skarmory started chasing for them; however, Scyther cried for them to find safety as she fought the Skarmory. Aine admired her pokémon's valiant attitude, but could not admire for too long, as she to leave with her other two pokémon in order to avoid getting killed.

And it got even worse.

The Skarmory had a trainer.

"_Go get 'em, Skar! Don't let them escape!_"

She only caught a glance of the young man, who was eyeing her and her pokémon with pure fury, and was going down to chase them himself. They had no option but to run, but Aine still worried about her Scyther, up against that monstrous Skarmory all by herself.

_She's a strong pokemon, she won't get any serious injuries beyond a couple scrapes and scratches on her body._

After that reassurance, Aine and her pokémon tried to find the way out, but they were totally lost.

From a distance, Aine soon heard the cry of her fainted Scyther...what was this? Why was this happening? Her dear Scyther! She fainted in attempting to protect her and the other two pokémon, but that vicious steel bird had the upper hand. And Aine had only been studying a fossil, not planning on stealing it or anything!

And it became worse, if that was possible.

The young man and the Skarmory caught up, and though Aine's pokémon were not at all tired yet, Aine was. She still continued sprinting though, not the one to give in easily, but fate worked against her as she tripped over another Geodude for the second time that day.

Bronzor and Prinplup instantly stopped to go back to her, but at seeing that, the man ordered his Skarmory to attack the pokémon, while he approached their trainer.

"Well then! I can see that _you're_ new and naive in this place," he said very bitterly, with a sense of superiority, "You don't know what you just did, but I'll explain, girlie -"

"Whatever I did, that gives you absolutely no right to attack my pokémon with your wretched steel bird!"

"Look, I know what I'm doing. I'm not going to harm you or your pokémon-" he was cut off by the cries of Aine's Prinplup and Bronzor, who had fainted.

She was the one to give him a furious stare this time, and started to take out her pokeballs to get her pokémon back in them, and she did, when the Skarmory suddenly appeared in front of her, its sharp, knive-like wings inches from her face.

She was beyond frightened...this bird could slice her in half...

She tensed up, but still with a firm voice she bravely asked, "Are you trying to kill me too?"

The man scoffed, but said to his pokémon, "Come back, Skar," and took him back in his pokeball. "There, there now. It's OK. Need any more accommodations?" with sarcastic glee in his voice, she already hated him; she couldn't even form back an equally sarcastic reply, which was usually in her nature.

But she was not going to allow this evil, evil man to take advantage; no, she was going to get the hell up.

And so she stood up, and looked this terrible guy in the eyes.

"I don't know what's your deal, because I was only exploring and enjoying myself doing so. I've done nothing to harm you, or anyone! So I'm looking forward to how you try to justify yourself in attacking me and my pokémon."

"For one thing, I wasn't trying to attack you_ or_ your pokémon more than what was necessary, let's get that straight. What if you were a thief, a criminal? And didn't you see the sign? 'DO NOT GO FURTHER IN'? Wasn't that enough? And what if you had stolen the amazing fossil I'm digging out? Wait, you didn't...now did you?"

"I did see the sign, but I'm the type that doesn't care as long as my pokémon are with me, and quite frankly, I admit I was very interested - but I had no plans on -"

"No plans, huh? Someone who is interested _must_ feel the urge to steal something so rare as that fossil-"

"The point is, that I ultimately was _not_ going to take it, and that you are still not justified in what you have done."

He wasn't going to admit he was wrong; he wasn't that type of man, and so he ignored her comment, and said, "...so you like fossils."

What was this random change of subject? This guy is a world-class fool, thought Aine. "Yes, I do, but that's not it! You know, I shouldn't be wasting my time attempting to take the truth out of you. I'm leaving, and hopefully I'll never see you again."

"Never see me again? I'm the gym leader of this city, girlie. You seem to be collecting badges, so unless you're gonna skip me -"

"Oh, be quiet already. Anything you say is invalid." And with that, Aine left, going back to find her fainted Scyther, although she did dread the mere thought of having to challenge Oreburgh City's gym to face _this_ guy, but she was not focused on that at the current moment. Once she got Scyther, she would take her, Prinplup, and Bronzor back to the Pokémon Center to rest with them, hoping to forget this terrible experience involving a terrible young man and his terrible Skarmory.


	3. News

**A/N: So. I'm writing this story on my phone on a app (my laptop was sold a while ago and I don't want any of my family members to see what I'm writing on the family computer), and while I was writing this chapter, my phone unexpectedly turned off and when it turned back on, this chapter was lost. I was so frustrated. However I still endeavored to rewrite the chapter and here it is. It's not as good as the original though, but I still remembered (thankfully) the major happenings from the original to write it again. So no problems.**

**"News"**

The next morning consisted of not only bad hair, but thoughts of what happened the evening previous. In a diner, Aine was pensive, eating her brunch. Her pokémon had already finished theirs, so they were waiting on her back in their pokeballs.

Yesterday was excessive.

"And that's what happens when I go out of my limits," Aine muttered to herself, _"Things_ happen."

_It is not your fault. It is the fault of the arrogant man who overreacted._ It was Bronzor again.

_I know it's his fault, but I could have prevented it all, too -_

_And by saying that, you are placing some blame on yourself, which you should not be._

Here Bronzor had a point; why was she thinking as _she'd_ done something wrong, when she clearly didn't?

Imagine if she had not been to the mine at all! How much easier could it get? The incident would not have occurred; she would have been spared the agitation and the embarrassment that came out of it. Instead of the mine, maybe she could have gotten a new sundress, or spend some more time training, or just go on with her day avoiding people, a fairly easy task for her, in which she had years of experience.

She wished for nothing more than to erase yesterday from her memory, from history! Or if not, she wished she did not react the way she did. Why could not have she dealt with it more rationally, showing less anger? It was so unlike her.

She decided that she would think further on that later.

_Where else...where else should I go to in this city? So many places, but I only want to visit the ones that capture my interest-_

How could have she forgotten?

The museum.

Immediately, Aine bolted from her seat, hastily finishing up the last bit of bread and coffee, leaving the fee at the table.

Joy.

* * *

"This is..." Aine began. "Indescribable."

Indeed, surrounding the young woman were all sorts of fossils and artifacts, which seemed to be, in her mind, glad of the fact that they had so intrigued an observer.

She noticed that the descriptions that accompanied the displays reflected what her books said; thus, she knew almost all that was to be known. A sense of pride came with the fact that she read more than most, that her various readings on various subjects had prepared her well for the world. Besides, she enjoyed it. There was probably only a thing or two in the descriptions that she did not previously know, and that added to her already ample knowledge.

Moving on to some Omanyte fossils, none of them caught her eye seeing as none were impressively rare as the one from the mine. Although they were different shades of colors and in various sizes, they did not equal the large one she saw yesterday.

_Yesterday._

_Do not start._ Bronzor chimed in.

_My mind just keeps going back to it - it's of so much concern. I can't get it out._

_It might actually not be if you think about it._

_If it bothers me so much, then it_ is_ concerning._

_OK, so it is not of unconcern, but it _ is_ distracting you from what you were so determined to enjoy._

Bronzor made yet another point. Why was she letting these thoughts - that man - influence her out of her fun?

_I don't want to admit it, but you're right again._

Deciding on continuing as before, Aine sought to clear her head of the filth, even if it was only temporarily.

Being captivated again by the joys of the museum, and the fun and warm feeling it brought her, it was _nearly_ impossible for her to be distracted by anything else. Her interest could not be taken away.

_Nearly._

An exchanging of words took it.

"Professor Sanderson! Professor! Oh, you must have heard already..." someone called loudly, near the area where Aine was looking around.

Professor Sanderson was a middle-aged man; knowledgeable-looking, lanky, precise. He looked top-notch, as he attended to his various papers and studies.

"I hear many things, Mervyn, so of course you must specify."

"About Byron discovering the biggest Omanyte fossil to date!"

"Ah, yes. Byron has told me of course. But that it is the biggest, is yet to be known. Byron promised he'd show it to me after he is done digging it out, for further evaluation. _Then_ we will see if it is indeed the biggest."

"Aren't you excited?" the guy asked.

"I must say I am."

"That's good. But that isn't all, Professor..."

"What else is there?"

"Byron also said there was an intruder trying to steal the fossil yesterday."

_What?_

"So? He supervises that mine, does he not? He has everything under control, I assume?"

"He does," the guy replied, "but he said that he'll be delayed in digging out the fossil because of the girl."

"That's fine. I can understand."

The chagrined Aine could not believe that she was one of the objects of their conversation, and they did not even know her! How was it possible? She did not know them!

And they continued.

"About the intruder," the Professor drawled on, "did Byron memorize, or at least have a good idea of, what she looked like, in case she might try to intrude again?"

"Oh, Byron said he would have seen her as harmless in any other situation. But that she tried to steal the fossil, made her the ugliest person in the world to him."

"Hmm. That's rare. You don't often hear of harmless looking people being criminals. But I do agree that an attempt at theft would make her an ugly person."

Why were these people talking of her in this way? They did not know who she was. Aine tried to laugh it off, but she knew she could not. These people were _so_ shallow. This news, if news it should be called, was spreading like a _disease,_ as shown by these two in the current situation. The toxicity of these rumors, even at this stage when they were just starting, was already making her nauseous.

Aine gave a short, mean laugh. She didn't think this was funny at all; she laughed at the stupidity going on in front of her.

Aine chuckled again once she realized that man - Byron was his name - had technically lied to this guy (who was stupid in his own right for being so gullible) about the situation. Though she had very much admired it, her intention was not to steal the fossil. He'd lied to hide what he had done to her, the reality of what had happened the day before.

"Well, it seems like my reputation in this city has been damaged enough," Aine said, to no one but herself.

Conflicted, she didn't know what to do next, until she narrowed down her options to two.

_Either I get my gym badge from this city and risk my dignity, or leave and come back for it another time._

The latter idea sounded much more amiable, much more sensible.

And so she decided that today was the second day in a row in which she was having a good time but was suddenly and unexpectedly disrupted by an incident she deemed unnecessary; and that she now wanted nothing more but to leave this place.

For an incident, it was largely affecting her.


	4. Stuck

**A/N: Here's Chapter 4! I really am enjoying the progress in this story and how I'm making the next chapter better than the last. It is a joy. **

**I don't have much else to say besides that I have introduced a new original character into this story. Just so you know.**

**Stuck**

The most burdensome, stressful, crushing information was made known to Aine the next day as she attempted to leave the city. The two roads to get in and out of Oreburgh were temporarily closed for construction work.

Only one word in that sentence relieved her, gave her hope, that she would get out at some point.

_Temporarily._

For the time being, however, she was stuck here.

_Stuck._

Stuck in this city.

Stuck in Oreburgh City.

STUCK.

It was at this time that she mourned Scyther's inability to fly long distances, because if she was able to do so, then they would have been out since earlier this morning, even yesterday.

Everything about this place was unhealthy. The people, the pokémon. Everything.

"So," Aine began as she and her pokémon were settled on a bench, almost a quarter of an hour after learning of the roads being closed; "what do we do now?"

Scyther told her it was an ideal time to challenge the gym.

"No thanks," Aine rejected, seeing no good come out of that endeavor.

Prinplup and Bronzor both agreed that there were many a place in the city that they had not visited yet.

"That's not bad, but then I might hear the trash that's being talked about me wherever I go. And I don't want that."

Bronzor argued that even though 'trash' was being talked about her, no one in the entire town knew what she looked like, so they would not be able to recognize her.

"But one person in case you don't remember."

Prinplup said that she was letting that man affect her way of thinking, letting him suppress her.

"He is not! It was the incident as a whole."

The mere suggestion was disgusting to her, although she knew the it was both the incident and that guy who had done this to her - turned her into an irrational mess.

In an attempt to not only stray away from that matter, but to engage them all in something, Aine gave her idea - something they all hadn't done ever since stepping in Oreburgh. "You know what? I can't believe this hadn't occurred to me in all our time here...we need to train! Whichever leader we challenge next, we need some preparation, don't we?"

Bronzor, being the clever-headed pokémon that it was, rhetorically asked where was the only place in the city to train.

Aine grimaced. "It's not like we have to train _there_. In every city, town, and village, there are power-hungry, battle-seeking trainers in everywhere. I could look around for some."

* * *

Shockingly, no power-hungry, battle-seeking trainers wanted to battle. Well, not that they didn't want to battle, but it just happened that on Sundays, the majority trained in the mine itself.

"Just our luck," Aine complained. "Arceus help me."

Scyther asked her were they going to train or not.

"I - yes, we are."

Aine gestured for them to follow her. Her weakness she refused to show.

* * *

Fortunately the mine had dozens of trainers, so she would not look suspicious if she was the only one there.

The benefits that came with these many trainers present, was not merely the one aforementioned, but that she, and her pokémon, were training. She had almost forgotten the importance of it. How was she expecting to beat the next five gym leaders if she had not been training?

She needed a little more money too.

At one point, a girl approached her after a long, hard-fought battle that resulted in Aine as the loser. She gave her name, which was Elle, and expressed her feelings that Aine was a really good trainer. Her bright smile was pervasive, highlighted by her good looks. With her blonde, nearly waist-length locks and big, light eyes, accompanied by her talent for battling and well-trained pokémon, it seemed impossible for someone to pass her by and ignore her.

"The feeling's mutual," replied Aine to her compliment, lowly, and warily.

"That's great! Say, if we keep in touch, we can see more of our progress in training - "

"That'd be very beneficial to the both of us," Aine said, "but I've got no time for friendships, unfortunately."

Elle did not look fazed. "Oh, that's no problem with me! Closeness isn't necessary; a professional relationship is the limit if you'd like it that way."

Aine, a little surprised at her persistence, being used to people giving up after her rejections, asked, "And what are your expectations for that?"

"Well, nothing much more than what you'd expect in such a relationship: we can help each other out in our pokémon training."

"And nothing beyond that?" Aine tested. "No personal stuff?"

"Not if we can prevent it," Elle smiled, causing Aine to grimace with a doubtful eyebrow, who did not enjoy the fact that this girl was getting comfortable.

"OK, so I've never done anything like that," Aine said. "And doing so would be a step out of my comfort zone," Elle's lips turned downward at this, but what Aine said next astonished herself even. "but I'm not completely throwing the idea out..."

"So? Would you like to exchange numbers?" Elle asked, her voice hopeful.

"Um." Aine muttered. "Sure."

The trade went on, which was succeeded by a shaking of hands.

"I'm from this very city, by the way," continued Elle, wanting to further communication. "Born and raised for the first sixteen years of my life, before I started training."

_Wow. She didn't start at ten? _

"And I've got all my Sinnoh badges too," she added, showing her pretty little lavender case that consisted of all eight badges; shiny, sparkling, and defining the personality of the trainer who earned them.

Aine resisted the urge to inquire anything about Elle's experience in training and battling, for the sake of not displaying too much interest. "That's impressive," was the only comment she gave.

Elle smiled again. Aine scowled. "How many badges have you got, if any?" Elle asked.

Aine looked down. "Only three so far. I've recently started my 'journey', as they say, about a year ago."

"Oh, really?" Elle was fascinated. "Why so?"

"I wanted to get in as much school as possible, until I was nineteen, which was last year."

Elle looked even more intrigued, and impressed. "I think you're the first person I've ever met to have done that! You're pretty unique among all these pokémon trainers, I must say."

"Aren't I?" Aine said, to herself mostly.

"Me, I started when I was sixteen, although I wanted to start at ten like everybody else, but my parents were against it. They wanted me to further school as well, and mature some more. Isn't that great? At first I resented my parents, but it was ultimately the best choice. I wouldn't have wanted to grow up ignorant."

"That's what _I_ felt ever since I was ten," Aine said, reminiscing a little. "I'd have a great advantage over others if I had continued school, which I did, and I do."

"You can outsmart everyone I suppose, including me."

"It would be amazing if I were to do that." said Aine, awkwardly, and then after a short silence. "It's about to hit sunset. I should be leaving you now."

Elle flushed. "I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time, then! I've been delighted to make your acquaintance. Hopefully I'll see you around...ah, excuse me, but can I get your name?"

"Aine. Forgive me for not having told you that before."

Elle nodded. "Well, I will see you around, Aine! I hope!" And thus they parted ways.

Exhausted, Aine knew _that_ was the longest courteous conversation she had with someone who was not her mother in a while.

_That was the longest courteous conversation you've had with someone who was not your mother._ Bronzor's taunting voice invaded her mind. _I __am honestly shocked._

_How are you even talking? Didn't you faint?_

Taking out all her pokémon from their pokeballs to give them herbs and to help them recover from the last battle, Aine sighed.

It wasn't even the end of the day yet.

* * *

A couple more battles proceeded, and since Aine could not afford to lose more money, she made the shrewd decision to battle only inexperienced youngsters; all of whom she beat, receiving some more money in the process).

Having enough cash already, and trained a great deal with her pokémon, she saw no further reason to stay in the mine.

However, it wasn't fully evening yet, and there were still some trainers around. It wouldn't look too suspicious if she was, again, wandering all over the place, would it?

I thought you were originally avoiding this place and now you want to go about it again? Are you really so daring? Bronzor came into her thoughts.

But it wouldn't look as shady as it was last time, since there are still trainers here. I don't think that will happen again.

For your well-being, I hope not...In fact, to avoid any such incident from occurring once more, you ought to have me out with you. I can sense trouble.

It's great that you're part psychic-type, then...come on out.

Bronzor came out of its pokeball and followed its headstrong trainer, while Aine had no idea where she was going. She was doing exactly what she did two days ago, walking the place without any aim; however, this time she was much more cautious and aware, as well as making sure that she wouldn't step over any Geodude.

After minutes of walking around, and finding nothing to attract her, she found no reason to be in mine anymore. Rather disappointed, Aine told Bronzor that she was getting bored and for them to turn back.

I knew she wasn't going to last long here, one way or another... The dual psychic-steel pokémon said to itself.

As Aine turned on her heel, she spotted something she was certainly not expecting.

The small little cave...

Where that damned fossil rested.

Bronzor noticed that she stopped, and was staring into the the entrance of the cave. The pokémon told her that she ought not to be distracted, and that they should just leave.

"Oh, I know the right thing to do is to leave, but it's so..." she wondered. "Tempting."

As tempting as it was to go in, it could quite possibly result in a similar situation as the one from a few days ago. Aine rationalized that it was equally possible for all to go smoothly if she were just to take a peek for a bit and then leave, however.

"Come on, follow me." She told Bronzor, who was actually tentative.

Stepping into the tiny entrance, which was about her size in height she realized, she wondered at how a man could even fit through this opening.

That thought was quickly swept away as she saw the fossil at the other end of the cave-room. Aine approached it and once she was right in front of it, she settled down by criss-crossing her legs and laying her bag at the side.

With Bronzor at her side as well, she felt protected enough, enough to act on her own will.

Aine noticed the fossil was more dug-out than it was when she last saw it, though there was still a way to go for it to be fully out. This meant that liar of a man - Byron - had continued his work on this fossil, so he could return at any possible time...

Any possible time.

She wished she could stay to admire the fossil further, but sense finally befell her.

As if on cue, Bronzor said that it was getting low, yet dangerous vibes...

"Definitely, let's go. Now." Aine patted Bronzor.

She was right outside of the entrance already when she collided with a hard figure. They both fell.

"What the..."

"It's you again!"

Her worst nightmares had come true.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He asked viciously.

"I - um - " she was at a loss for words.

"Didn't you hear me?"

"I'm - uh - I wasn't doing anything that I was not supposed to be doing."

He eyed her suspiciously, getting back up. "I don't believe you."

She stood up as well. "You should, because it's the truth. And by the way, I highly suggest for you to not spread false rumors about me being a thief. It doesn't make you look good, not through my eyes."

He had the nerve to look offended. "But that's what you were doing, weren't you? Trying to steal?"

"I was not, and hearing strange people talking _lies_ about me because you told them so, is, in my opinion, proof of how much of a terrible person you are. And I don't even know you!"

"How do I know you weren't trying to - "

"Because if I was, I would have gotten away with. But I'm not that sort of person, either, as I've already told you."

He was silent. Until he caught sight of her Bronzor right behind her, who was also, surprisingly silent.

"You have your pokémon with you." He noticed.

"So? What does that matter?"

He sighed. "That if someone just deliberately entered here with their pokémon, and had the intention to steal, they would have gotten away with it. But that doesn't concern you." He pushed past her, to where the fossil was.

She turned around, but did not step back into the cave-room. "Be assured, once again, that I'm _not_ a thief. And as for you - "

"Then if you weren't going to steal this fossil, what the _hell_ where you doing?"

Aine saw that he was very sweaty, as if he had been working on something before he came here. His mahogany hair was messy, his eyes pissed off and weary.

"Answer my question." He demanded.

Momentarily, she did not know how to answer it. What _was_ she doing? She knew what, but did it really matter to him? It seemed awkward.

"I'm...interested in fossils." She managed.

"I figured..." he muttered. "That shows good taste," he said this part uncommonly low, so that she would not hear it, which was done successfully. "But you're not on my good side - "

"And I don't wish to be."

His eyes flashed. "So I suggest you get out of here and never come again."

"I have but one thing to ask of you, however." She kept going, which she herself could barely believe.

He looked at her in disbelief while he was tending to his fossil. "I don't do favors for strangers - "

"Then you can surely understand what I'm asking for, which isn't really much." She doubted though. "All I want, is that you clear the lies you've fed to every and any gullible person about me. Gullible people - who are all _strangers_ to me."

He didn't say anything at first, but she still waited for a response. At last he said, "Look, girlie, you're not exactly in my good opinion, and if you want me to say it blatantly, _I __don't like you._ So I'm _not_ required to clear anything that people are talking about you. In fact, I should be _encouraging_ it."

Her detest for him she was suddenly reminded of.

"OK." She said, irritated. "Be as infuriating as you are. Hopefully you'll come to the light soon, but that's very unlikely, isn't it?" And with that, she did not feel to further the argument or even hear the stupidity he was about to say next, so she left.

Bronzor commented that she was on a roll.

"What are you talking about?"

The pokémon said that she had _two_ different conversations with two different people that day, who both happened to not be her mother.

"You can stop that now. But my goodness, I've never met anyone so repulsive before! And you! You didn't even try to get him away from me!"

Bronzor said that it did not sense that the man was going to hurt her, so it did not attack him.

"I wish you would have knocked him out...I bet you could tell that I wanted you to hit a move on him."

As they were out of the mine, the dark blue night sky had already settled in on Oreburgh, yellow lamplights illuminating throughout. And the roads, of course, were still blocked for construction.

It was so stressing...just being here. The day Aine and her pokémon were going to be able to leave, would a winning day for her.

For now, though, she remained stuck in Oreburgh; stuck, with no way to get out. Hopefully, Aine would be able to stick to her guns, keep her pride, her sense, and get through it all, without interference.


	5. A New, Innocent Friend

**A/N: All right! I can safely say that though few, there _are _people reading this story. Great thanks to you all, as well my first reviewer for this story, whose review gave me hope and made me unbelievably happy once I saw and read it. **

**Keep in mind that so far, the three major characters in this story (my two OCs and Byron) are young of course. That's why I refer to them as "young lady/woman" or "young man" as I'm writing. I wanted to say that because I know that in the Pokemon canon, Byron is like 40 years old or something along that.**

**A New, Innocent Friend**

It is safe to conclude that the protagonist is a most unfortunate woman.

Indirectly trapped within a city where false rumors had been spreading about her - about a innocent-looking thief who had been lurking in the city waiting to steal one's most prized possessions. It went around everywhere she went and passed!

A week had gone since first stepping foot into Oreburgh, with construction work still blocking the roads to exit the city, and Aine was the verge of going mad.

But she had her pokémon.

And her mom's number, so she did call her a few times, but she didn't tell her mother of her vexations.

As for the trainer, Elle, she had not contacted Aine ever since both traded phone numbers. A decision which Aine was having second thoughts about.

However, besides being unable to depart the city, Aine's chief distress lay in all the gossip about her - all by people who didn't know her! Bronzor constantly reminded her that they did not know what she looked like, so they would never know it was her.

This fact did not make it any less distressing, although it did make the problem better than it would have been otherwise.

Yet the rumors and gossip always seemed like the following.

At the museum, "Oh, yes, she's apparently very nice-looking, but she's a robber!"

At the pokemart, "I'm keeping a good look on my children now that there's a criminal in town. And no one can accuse me of being overprotective!"

Conspiracy theorists on the streets, "Who knows? She might be a member of one of those evil pokémon teams." She would have ignored it, but it was so hard. She would have made fun of it, but not acknowledging the problem would have made her too careless.

Her three pokémon reassured her when she needed it most, reminding her that they would leave the city eventually, and when they returned, all these foolish people would have quitted the subject and moved on.

"That's right, but what I hate the most is that guy who kept on his promise and actually encouraged people to continue talking about me. If I ever see him again and I get on his nerves, then he'll probably start telling them how I look like and whatnot. I know I've said this before, but I really do loathe the man."

She was justified, wasn't she? Aine had every right to dislike the guts out of someone who had wronged her, insulted her pride and intelligence, insulted _her._

For all she knew, he probably felt the same way.

She hadn't seen him since Sunday, when they traded fiery, vehement remarks and jibes, clearly establishing their intense dislike of the other. Aine could only hope for no more similar encounters, but fate always proved to be the most unpredictable of things.

She was window-shopping today to kill time, believing that if she engaged herself in something like this kind, she could find some pleasure, even if it was far exceeded by everything else that was currently tormenting her.

A knee-length, lavender-colored halter dress with a red strap in the middle caught the eye of Aine, like any good-looking dress would, when she felt a vibration in her bag.

It was probably one of her pokeballs, but when she checked, it was Aine's small, old-fashioned phone vibrating.

She answered, expecting her mother.

"Hello! This is Elle," greeted the caller.

Startled, Aine adjusted to this. "Hi, I remember you."

"Good! I called you because I thought it was rude to ask for your number and not call any time soon, and I'm not really busy right now. Maybe, I thought, you would like to battle again?"

The past few days Aine had only been battling the youngsters for money, and to be honest, she needed to train her pokémon with a real, valid opponent who would be a challenge. By no means was Aine a weak trainer, but if she continued her current ways, she would have turned into one. Seeing the big picture in this way, Aine recounted Elle and her pokémon's exceptional strength; and thus resolved on accepting Elle's second challenge, even if it risked a little more money loss.

"Aine? Are you there?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was only thinking. Sure, I accept."

"Really? Thanks! I hope I didn't interrupt anything important though."

Aine looked up at the dress that caught her attention, and said, "No worries. I was window shopping, with no intention of purchasing anything."

"Glad to hear I didn't interrupt something! Say, let's meet up back at the Oreburgh Mine, why don't we? Like last time?"

Hesitation came with Aine's reply after hearing that, "...Sure."

"OK! I'll get ready now. See you there!"

Aine hung up, putting the phone back in the bag, and whispered to her pokeballs that they would be battling soon.

A good match it would be.

* * *

"Scyther is unable to battle!" cried the third party who was refereeing the match, "Gallade is declared the winner!"

_She probably thinks I'm useless now, and won't call me anymore_. Aine thought as she took Scyther back in her pokeball, muttering a well-meant "thanks" to her.

Elle neared Aine, saying that it was a terrific, challenging, yet fun battle nonetheless.

"I think the same." Aine said, handing Elle the prize money.

"I admit, I like your sly skill tactics."

"Sly?" Aine repeated.

"Yes! You started off with your pokémon weakening mine with status maneuvers, along with defensive moves, and you seemed to be resorting to that kind of thing for the whole battle until surprisingly you told your Scyther to go full-on attack! However, attack moves don't seem to be your specialty like your defensive ones, and maybe that's why you lost." Elle said that part as kindly as she could. "But you're not a weak trainer, though there's room for improvement! You're very promising."

Aine was taken aback. Why was this girl sincerely complimenting her when she had beaten Aine handily two times in a row? "Thank you," Aine said, "but you seem as if you're on a whole other level in regards to pokemon training, which you are. Shouldn't you be battling those who have eight badges, or even the Elite Four?"

"Maybe I should, but I do like to battle all sorts of trainers so I can have a good amount of experience. Plus, seeing others progress and improve is such a good thing!"

Aine felt her pride insulted once again, by what seemed to be unintentional condescension by Elle.

"Well," Aine said, "I took a lot from our battle today. I have to leave, though - "

Elle frowned. "Unless you're in a hurry for something urgent, please don't leave. We can really learn a lot from each other!"

Aine pursed her lips. "Such as?"

Elle knew this was a difficult person to befriend. "Oh, you're obviously very knowledgeable, so you must of course have a lot to tell, and I know a bunch too, so why don't we exchange our knowledge? It's good to learn new things each and every day! Come on, we should take a walk."

Aine joined her, knowing that she had not much to do anyway, and also not wanting to argue, taking out Prinplup for the walk. And who knew what she was capable of discovering by having further conversation with her, right?

Elle smiled widely, as she also took out a pokémon of hers, a Hypno; "I'm very sure we'll learn so much from each other. Say, be careful for all the time you're staying in the city, the rumor has it there's a thief going around here and there."

Damn.

This young lady got sucked into the gossip as well, didn't she?

It was only natural for Aine to be offended, although she was a master at not showing those raging emotions, and yet her response contained a subtle defense. "That's what it is, isn't it? A mere rumor? Gossip? _Lies_? Why would you believe in what others say? Do you believe in everything you hear?"

Elle was dumbfounded, and Aine knew her witty tongue did its job.

"I - uh - no, I don't believe in _everything_ I hear actually. It's just that the person who told me such, is a good friend of mine, and when he states something as a fact, it usually is true, unless he's joking. He's a reliable source."

Aine felt something in her stomach, that tight tug of nervousness, and she hoped that the next question she was about to ask wouldn't receive the answer she was thinking of. "And who is this reliable source?"

Elle reddened. "Oh, he's Oreburgh's gym leader, a respected mine worker, and a lover of digging and fossils. His name is Byron. I doubt he would lie about anything."

She couldn't get away from this, could she? He was everywhere, present in the lies he spread about her. Even worse, he had a high reputation. Aine could tell from the way Elle blushed, how she mentioned everything that he was attributed with, and the affectionate tone with which she had said it all, that this Byron certainly was admired throughout the city.

"Still, I don't believe in that rumor." replied Aine. "I don't believe in gossip so easily, whether it comes from a supposedly reliable source or not."

With an assured tone, Elle affirmed, "You're mistaken. I mean, I respect your way of thinking, but this man is genuine."

_You have no idea how much he's fooling you and everybody else, then._

"I guess that you haven't challenged him to a gym battle yet, judging by the way you don't know him very well." Elle pointed out.

"I don't need to have challenged him in order to know him well, but you're right _\- _I haven't yet."

"Do you plan on it any time soon?"

"I do," Aine answered, albeit it was lie. "But I need to train some more."

Here continued some discussion about pokémon training, pokémon, and so forth. The two young women were in the process of getting to know each other, and despite finding out of the gullibility of Elle before, Aine discovered her to be a smart, passionate person - someone whom she wouldn't mind calling a "friend" - even though the idea seemed horrid at first.

Near the end of their walk, when they were approaching the Pokémon Center, Elle offered Aine quite the option: "I know you're a traveling trainer so you stay in the Center for the night. But I have my own apartment - "

Aine could feel that they were becoming too close, something which she feared. "No thank you. I much prefer the Pokémon Center."

"I understand. By the way, remember my friend, whom we were talking about talking about earlier? I know you might not believe me, but he's a great person, and like I said before, a fossil lover! And from what you've told me, you're pretty interested in fossils too. He can tell you a whole lot about them, although he's always learning more himself. You should meet him - I have no doubt he'll like telling you about it all. Seriously! He's..." Elle trailed off. "...amazing."

The notion was repulsive. This girl really had no idea how abysmal were the circumstances in which Aine and Byron had met. They didn't know each other all that well, yes, but they hated the guts out of each other. Aine felt bad that Elle was under the impression that he was a good, honest friend. After only two incidents, Aine concluded that the young man was the worst person she had the misfortune to encounter in all her twenty year life. In their first incident, he had basically, to sum it all up, attempted to kill her and her pokémon with his deadly Skarmory - and proceeded to mock her! In the second, he stumbled into her, accused her of theft, insulted her, established his detest for her.

She didn't need a third encounter.

All Aine could reply was a simple, yet firm, "No."

Elle looked disappointed. "Really? Look, I might be biased since I'm his friend, but he's genuinely a good person! I'll introduce you - "

"No, and that's my final say. You're talking in vain, Elle." Aine said, exasperated.

Elle sighed, then smiled a little. "I _should_ know better than to argue with a person I recently met - especially if they are all seriousness like you are.

"Well, have a good night," Elle said. "Sleep well."

"Same to you." Aine turned to the pokémon she had taken out to accompany her and Elle walk, Prinplup.

"I'm sorry I ignored you there. As you noticed, that girl is such a talker."

Prinplup nodded that it was OK, because the girl was nice; and asked for Aine to put him back in his pokeball, as he was sleepy.

And so she did.

She stepped into the Pokémon Center; she was rather sleepy herself. It was a bit too early for sleep however, as it was eight o'clock in the evening. It was probably because Elle had her mischievous Hypno to accompany her...

But that didn't matter. Aine's new acquaintance, was now a friend; a smart friend as well as a experienced trainer, though quite gullible in other aspects. Who knew what she was capable of believing in, or of doing, especially with what she had revealed about her friendship with the Byron guy.

Aine sighed. It was going to be a while before she would be able to leave the city; and who knew what the future had in store for her?

**Hope you liked it! Till' the next chapter!**


	6. Ditched With Him

**A/N: I'm back with a new chapter! Each and every new chapter keeps getting better and better, I assure you. Thanks to all those who are reading my story, reviewing, following/favoriting. I am very grateful.**

**What else...OK, so please keep in mind that this is a mature, serious story I'm writing, so I'm making things in the story a bit different from the Pokemon canon. For example, during the time this story is taking place, the Pokedex doesn't exist (yet), so I will be making up names of books and whatnot. That's just one example though.**

**Without further ado, then:**

**Ditched with Him**

The next couple of days Aine spent training with her pokemon, purchasing wants and necessities, and getting to know Elle better, battling her two more times. Battling and training with a strong "practice partner", as Elle herself enjoyed saying, was healthy, helpful, and efficient for both Aine and her pokémon. For Aine, it slowly, but surely, was making her a better trainer, and also alleviated her distress on all the rumors about her, which were, by the way, still present around town. For her pokémon, it strengthened their battling skills; not to mention, they made great friends, and rivals, with Elle's pokémon. Things were going well enough as of late.

They were comfortable with each other enough to not only battle two more times, but also for Aine to willingly accept invitations to Elle's apartment, eat lunch with her, and even shop with her.

The two weren't all that different, but they weren't the most similar pair ever, either. Aine, who was very capable of having a long conversation, yet was not a talker and wasn't instantly personable, which made it hard for Elle to talk freely and openly, but it should be noted that Elle was Aine's first friend in a long time, and started to become the first person Aine talked to more than her own mother.

Elle was a bright, ardent, talkative girl who liked asking questions. Her pushy, insatiable type of personality irked Aine somewhat, but wasn't a huge deal. After all, Elle was an impressive pokémon trainer, who was a genuine person and almost as smart as Aine.

The construction work on the exit roads was going on even now, but the fact didn't bother Aine so much as it did a week ago. Today was a Sunday, and after eating breakfast with her pokémon, Aine was seated in a corner of the Pokémon Center, catching up on some reading of her books. She hadn't read ever since the first incident with_that_ guy, when she opened a book to check out the fossil she was looking at.

She was reading _Sinnoh Pokemon: Vol._ _2_, and had _The History of Fossil Pokemon from All Over the World_ and other volumes beside her, in case she finished the book she was reading at the moment.

Turning a page in her book, she heard the vibration of her small phone, to which she scowled as it was a distraction, yet endeavored to take it out of her bag and answer.

"Yes?" Aine said, already knowing who it would be.

"Aine! You _have_ to come to the mine to train with me as soon as possible. It's freshly breezy outside - the perfect weather for enjoying yourself and battling! Better yet, there are a bunch of strong trainers here for some reason, and this is a good thing! No foolish kids at all. You have to make it here, Aine!"

Upset about this sudden intermission to her reading, Aine was not going to give in so easily; something that would require Elle to do some form of persuasion. "I'd really like to, Elle, but I'm catching up on my reading - "

"You read a bunch! I'm sure you're the most well-read person in Sinnoh already. You need more practical skills now, the real thing!"

Slighted, Aine shifted in her seat, bookmarked her current place in her book, closed it, and set it to the side. "If there _are_ many tough pokémon trainers in the mine right now as you're claiming, then I wouldn't like to miss out on the chance. However, y'know I can never read enough, so I'm going to stay here for a while."

Elle audibly pouted. "You're going to come eventually, right? I can't tell if these people are going to be here long."

"I will."

"Yes! Well, get here soon! Meanwhile, _I'll_ battle some of these guys...I'm so impatient though! Give me an estimate at what time you'll be here."

Aine looked up at the big clock on the wall behind Nurse Joy. Half an hour till' noon. "A half hour or so."

"OK! Bye!"

Aine opened her book again, and continued.

Perhaps she should have rejected Elle's offer.

* * *

Elle hung up, and turned around to her friend, who had heard the conversation on Elle's part.

"She's coming in a half hour! Byron, I already told you: she doesn't say much at first, but she's incredibly smart and a good person once you get to know her." She twisted one of her blonde locks into a curl, her tone bright as stars, as if expecting greatness to happen.

"I believe you. You have good taste in people." He said, as he resumed digging out that fossil of his. Indeed, they were in the forbidden cave-room where Byron hardly allowed anyone to trespass but himself.

"You won't be disappointed with her." Elle stated, sure of herself, as she slowly paced the cave. "She can, and will, learn a lot from you."

"I hope! Again, with your good taste, I'm not expecting a silly person."

"Of course not!" Elle laughed, as she put a soft hand on his shoulder.

Hardly did Byron know what was in store for him.

* * *

The clock struck twelve, and Aine knew she couldn't break the promise she had made. No matter how much she wished to complete her book, she had to head off at this point. She put the books back in her bag, told her pokémon where they were going, and exited the Center.

Aine prayed to Arceus, something she didn't do often, that nothing horrible would occur to her while she was in the Oreburgh Mine today. Aside from meeting Elle in the mine, not much else served as having a positive impact there.

It took a short amount of time to arrive there, and when Aine did - at the entrance gate of the mine - her friend was present, waiting. Making eye contact, the blonde's eyes sparkled, if that was even possible, and she ran toward Aine, grabbing her right hand. "You're here! Come with me!" Elle led the way, to further in the mine.

Aine, with her hand within Elle's grasp and trying to keep up, observed the area. Seeing the usual mine workers with their pokemon as well as the machinery all over the place was no new thing. And Elle was correct; a _multitude_ of strong-looking trainers were battling and training here and there; no rookie to be seen. "I - " Aine was cut off by all the sounds, but raised her voice so Elle would hear her. "Aren't we going to battle these people?"

Elle looked back at her. "Obviously! But I've got a surprise, so just follow me."

_She's got_ _a surprise?_

_Apparently so._ Her Bronzor popped in.

_Can you tell if it's something good or bad?_

_We are not near it enough yet, so I_ _cannot._

Aine took her hand back, which was up to that point in Elle's hold. She followed Elle deeper into the mines, where they were already inside.

A vague idea sprouting and growing slowly in her head, Aine remembered taking an almost identical path before, if not the exact same one.

That was all that ran through her mind before she managed a glance at a "DO NOT GO FURTHER IN" sign and a pull of the hand by Elle into a small cave-like entrance...

Even Bronzor could not warn Aine fast enough.

"Byron!" Elle called to her other friend, who was digging out that fossil.

_No._

Arceus had failed to answer her prayers.

Byron turned around, smiled at Elle and was about to acknowledge Aine's presence when he recognized her.

His facial expression was a mix of confusion, disgust, disapproval, embarrassment, and shock; presumably, so were his thoughts.

They stared at each other. No words.

Elle, uncomfortable by the lack of communication, especially on Byron's part, introduced them to the best of her ability.

Little did she know they had met before.

"Aine, I told you about Byron. Byron, same thing to you, her name is Aine."

"_Aine._" He uttered her name, composing himself, and she didn't like it.

But she had to compose herself as well, in order to handle this situation correctly. "Byron."

"Nice to meet you." He lied, and turned back to his work.

Aine was glad he did so; any more eye contact would have driven her mad.

Meanwhile Elle, unable to see through Byron's lack of friendliness, gestured for Aine to follow her closer to where Byron was. "Look here, Aine. He's a great digger. Always goes on about how perfectly he does it, and it's true. This happens to be a rare fossil that he's digging out, a large one for its kind. Come, take a seat. He'll tell you more about it, won't you, Byron?"

Aine took a reluctant seat close to the area where they were, laying her bag at the side.

"Why not?" Byron said dryly, in response to Elle.

Elle brightened. "Oh, good. Please do so! Aine loves to learn about anything and everything, as I told you before..." she paused, before, "Oh, wait. I'm getting a phone call. Give me a second." She stood up with her phone, and walked right out the cave-room. Aine's muscles tensed, and her stomach churned. The same feeling that one gets when one is forced to face something incredibly dreadful.

Byron scoffed. "Didn't know Elle had it in her to befriend a thief." He muttered, loud enough for Aine to hear.

Aine, now furious, whispered: "You say that as if you're the good guy here. Isn't she your friend? How could you lie to her, and everyone? You're a horrible person."

"I'm not lying to anyone, girlie. You don't know me well enough to judge like that. You've only seen me two times before, and you decide to make your conclusions on that? Give me a damn break."

"Everyone else in this city may worship you, but I've seen your true ugliness, your true self, and like you said, I've only seen you _two_ times before!"

He blew some dust off of the fossil, and avoided eye contact. "'True ugliness'? Girlie, just because I was being cruel and mean to you - "

"You admit it." Aine cut him off. "You _were_ cruel. You tried to harm me and my pokémon, made fun of me, insulted me, as if it was - "

"All your fault." He finished, with a smirk that was asking to be slapped right off his face. "Which it was."

How could he be so stubborn? How hard was it to just admit he was wrong? He had this thick arrogance that was not willing to be penetrated through.

Just then, Elle reentered the cave. "I am so sorry you two, but I have to leave! It's urgent. Aine, I apologize that we couldn't battle all those trainers together, but maybe you can by yourself! Well...have a good time, both of you! Bye!" With a wink at Byron, and a wave at Aine, she skipped away.

"Wait!" said both Aine and Byron; and stunned that they exclaimed the same thing, they turned to look at each other, and for a brief second, their eyes met.

Atrocious.

Byron rapidly gained his cool back, and said, "Well, she's gone now. Nothing I can do about it. I think she's expecting me to talk to you, so listen up. Let me speak, shut up the whole time, so we can get this over with. I'm sure you want to be gone too, but then Elle's going to be asking you and me about what we did. So go with my plan. Deal?" He said this all in a way that suggested he was expecting her to follow through.

Aine, in anger and disbelief because Elle ditched her with this guy, was further vexed by what he just said. "No." was all she replied with.

Facepalming, he said, "Are you really gonna make things - "

"I can go along with your 'plan' as long as I get to speak whenever I want. You can't silence me. _Deal?"_ Aine said that last part with a mock tone.

"But a bunch of pure _bullshit_ will be coming out of your mouth, which I _really_ don't want to hear - "

"It's either that, or you risk disappointing your _girl-friend_ by your not talking to me." Aine crossed her arms, and sat straight. She wasn't going to lose this.

He blew some more dirt off the fossil. "First of all, Elle's not my girlfriend. Second, I think going back and forth is a problem unless something is decided on - "

"Then agree with me."

"You can talk, then. Don't say anything silly, because, as it happens," he reached to take one of his pokeballs, and threw it behind him. "Skarmory's gonna make sure you don't attempt anything silly." Said pokémon appeared out of its pokeball, and shrieked. He looked over to where Aine was, and remembering her, approached her and cried in front of her face.

"Get it away from me." Aine stiffened up. She would have reached for her bag to get one of her own pokeballs, but decided that it would look instantly suspicious and no doubt that Byron would order his Skarmory to stop her.

Byron laughed, almost villanously. "Back up, Skarmory." He said. "She's _scared_ of you."

The pokémon did so; but started to taunt her.

Uneasy, Aine shifted and wished that all three pokémon were out there with her, perhaps to teach this guy and his Skarmory a lesson.

"So," Byron began, "I think you already know that _this_ right here is an uncommonly large and rare Omanyte fossil. Of course you know, why else would you have came here two times before? _To steal it, obviously."_ He chuckled.

Aine defended herself, whilst also trying to put herself back at ease. "I told you before, and I'll say it as many times necessary: I am _not_ a thief. I never had the intention to steal anything."

"Because this fossil is so massive," he went on, ignoring her, "it's going to take a while to fully take it out. If I have the right tools, and a good amount of experience, which I do, then I'll be successful in digging this baby out. As you can see," he looked up at her, satisfied with her offended expression. "I have all that I need here - my shovel, hammer, jackhammer, trowel, pick, drinking water, and wheelbarrow right over there."

Suddenly, Aine recalled why she was in Oreburgh City in the first place. She had read a book on fossils and became interested. She found out that if she wanted more hands-on knowledge, she had to come here. Even so, she didn't want to learn by _this_ young man.

But it was all she had, so she had to take the opportunity.

"Are you even listening to me?" He asked her.

"Yes." Aine answered, which wasn't a lie, because she actually was.

He took some rock surrounding the fossil out using his trowel. "Y'know, Elle says you're very well-read, but you seem like you don't know much more beyond _ that_."

Aine's eyes widened. Now he was insulting her way of learning - what she knew and loved in all her twenty year life. How was that possible? Most people would commend or perhaps envy her knowledge, and now here this guy was, speaking ill of it.

After a few moments, she said, "At least I made the effort to come to this city to not only get my badge and improve as a trainer, but acquire practical skills as well. You have no right to be insulting me on what I know, many things which I doubt _you'll_ ever be aware of."

"Whoa, girlie. Don't get all smart on me. Just because you think you're all high and mighty, doesn't mean you have to express it like that, you silly bit- "

She cut him off before he said the whole word. "High and mighty? Are you serious? Me? You should look at yourself and then decide who really thinks himself as 'high and mighty'."

He was so irritated, he nearly smashed the pick into the fossil. "Shut up. Because of you, I almost damn broke the fossil."

"It would have been _your_ fault, not mine."

He did not say anything, but flashed her a look suggesting 'leave-me-the-f-alone', before he returned to work.

Focusing her attention to the way in which he worked, then, his deftness at digging out the fossil she could not overlook; the hole he was digging around it, although not complete, was coming out flawlessly, with no single blemish or mistake. She would have verbally admired it were she not reminded of her intense dislike for him.

Instead she asked, "How long have you been mining?" - Perhaps the most civil thing she had said to him so far.

He dug some more dirt out. "Since my childhood. My dad introduced it..." at once, he registered in the fact that he responded to her question way too politely. Thus, he added, "But that's none of your business. Stop asking me questions."

"I only asked you one."

He ignored her.

"Do you like mining?"

"Well...If I didn't like it, I sure as hell wouldn't be doing it. Isn't that as clear as day?"

"Is it..." she searched in her mind for the right words. "What you're passionate about? What you're dedicated to doing your entire life?"

"Yeah...I love it. I never get sick of it." Again, too polite for him. "Now be quiet, and observe the way I do it, so then Elle will know that I taught you something."

With only that, Aine decided that he was only talking to her for his own selfish reasons: to remain on good terms with someone else. Unsurprisingly so, but she was firm on staying to watch him do his work.

She watched on for the next ten minutes or so, without a syllable from her or Byron being uttered. The Skarmory, she noticed, settled down behind them; and when she looked at him in the eye, he shrieked again; Aine made a mental note not to face that pokémon anymore.

Finally, Byron took a sip from his drinking water and wiped his head off. "That's all for today. I'm leaving now...but you're gonna have to leave with me, so I make sure that you don't - "

"I'm not a thief." Aine declared, knowing where he was going with this.

He stood up. "You don't want to go on with this, do you? Come on. This fossil is - "

"All right! I understand." Aine said, defeated. She took her bag, and made her way out. "It was_ not_ nice to see you again."

"I hated every single second I had to hear you speak, breathe, or look at you, including now." He shot right back.

"Look at the bright side," Aine said, "Elle will be pretty satisfied with you. Even though you're a horrible excuse of a person." After that, Aine turned on her heel, making her way back.

Now she intended to battle the trainers Elle had told her about. However, Aine was not sure if she should have remained on friendly terms with the blonde for ditching her.

Ditching her - with _him,_ of all people.


	7. Another Unexpected Encounter

**A/N: Here's the next chapter! Not my best chapter, but there's definitely some good tension here and a little foreshadowing at the end. Read on!**

**Another Encounter**

"Aine, I told you, didn't I? He's a great guy." Elle smiled, as they were in her apartment, chatting at her coffee table.

"Of course. I could _not_ have met a better person." Aine replied, but her friend did not see through her sarcasm.

"See! I told you. I did! You should talk to him again, Aine. And not just to challenge him for the badge." Elle said.

Aine had nearly forgotten that she should have gotten her gym badge from this city by now. It was over two weeks, and she hadn't even stepped a foot into the Gym.

Shameful.

_I need to get it together and just face him and leave this city once I'm __able to._

"But why," Aine said, curious, crossing her right leg over her left. "Do you think that I should talk to him more?"

"Making another friend wouldn't hurt that much, correct?"

"I have my pokémon."

Elle rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, they're obviously always there for you. Human-wise, I mean."

"I think you're enough for now."

Elle laughed. "I'm being serious, though. Really. He's a great person."

_I hate him_ \- _he's far from even a_ decent_ person._

Despite Aine's real thoughts, she wanted her friend to be quiet on the matter. It was quite unnecessary how Elle was constantly talking about him. Almost as if...Elle was obsessed in some way. To satisfy her friend, and silence her on the subject, at least for a while, Aine said, "All right. I will try."

Light eyes sparkling, Elle said something about how she had invited Byron over and was on his way right now.

Aine was alerted. "Now?"

"Yes!"

Why was the blonde girl planning things without informing her of it? An instance of this was of course yesterday, and evidently right now. She wasn't liking it.

"You should have told me this before." Aine grimaced.

"Oh, but then it isn't exciting!"

"But what does it - "

A door bell rung to interrupt her. Aine regretted being here.

Elle answered the door, greeted Byron, and welcomed him in.

"Oh, _she's_ here." He commented as he discerned her.

Aine raised her sight towards him. He was eyeing her with an exasperated glare, as if thinking 'when are these encounters going to stop?' She could not disagree with him there.

Even so, he acknowledged the fact that he had a friend to impress in Elle, and muttered to Aine a cold "hello."

The unexpected greeting made Aine jump slightly, but she recuperated when, out of instinct, she replied with, "Hi."

She watched him pass her by, and he sneered silently as he took a spot on the sofa next to her, all while keeping a safe distance.

"Byron, you must want some coffee or something, I'll go get you it," Elle headed to the kitchen to complete her self-assigned duty.

Meanwhile, Aine intertwined her fingers with her red hair while curling it and picked at her bag, switching between the two every couple of seconds or so, so as to seem engaged and to avoid eye contact with the unpleasant figure next to her.

The unpleasant figure merely placed his feet atop the coffee table, and turned to stare at her, thinking of a way to slight her.

Ever so great was his detest for her that he indeed had to think of yet a new insolent remark. While putting his mind at work, Byron thought that she was being immensely foolish at the moment; the way she was attempting to avoid him with her small, almost unnoticeable antics.

But he noticed.

And he was going to taunt her.

"You're not doing a good job at all," he commenced. "Trying to distract yourself from me? I can see right through it, girlie."

Aine stopped with her little "antics". She turned to him, for a second looking into his dark violet-brown eyes, before responding. "Why are you talking to me?" Her lips pursed. "You seem like _you're_ having problems avoiding me; at least _I _make an effort to do so with you."

"It's hard to avoid or even ignore you, you know," he leaned back. "when you keep popping up everywhere and anywhere, like at the present moment."

"If you weren't expecting me to be here, then you should blame your girl-friend. If you think about it, she is the one behind all of this."

"I know better than to fault Elle with anything - she isn't even aware of how much I hate you - "

"And how do you think she'd feel if she knew how much you hate me? I _am_ her friend."

"And so am I."

Elle returned with his coffee; and initiated a conversation on Byron's gym leader position and how excited she was for, whenever it would take place, Aine challenging him for the badge.

After taking a sip from his coffee, Byron said, "I'm guessing you're gonna challenge me pretty soon, then?" He smirked to himself as he recalled how his Skarmory had singlehandedly KOed all her three pokémon.

"I am, yes." Aine replied carefully, as not to show her dislike of him in front of Elle.

But Elle suspected nothing, being the gullible soul that she was. "It's great that you're going to challenge him so soon, Aine, but be warned that Byron is essentially Sinnoh's best leader."

Aine stifled a laugh, wondering if that was really true. Byron, on the other hand, while flattered, had to correct his friend's error. "Thanks, Elle, but I'm not Sinnoh's best Gym Leader. I _wish_ I was."

Aine observed a humility in his statement that she did not think he was capable of, but this was probably only because he was on good terms with Elle, she concluded; otherwise, he would be the selfish, conceited, disrespectful asshole he actually was.

"Oh," said Elle. "But you're still among Sinnoh's toughest, you can't deny that." Elle recalled her own gym battle with him.

"I suppose I can't."

A few moments passed here without anything being said, until Elle again brought up a subject, one which would definitely stimulate both Aine and Byron: "OK, Byron. So I've told Aine about the thief you said was running rampant through town. She didn't believe me and said that I shouldn't believe everything I hear, didn't you, my dear Aine? But now I'm telling you about so that you may confirm to her that it's real, and that you're not lying."

Byron turned to Aine with a cruelly amused visage. Aine dared not say a word yet.

"Well, _Aine,"_ he addressed her. "I'm an honest guy, so the things I say usually _are_ true."

His voice was dripping with mockery; she instantly heard it, and was irritated that Elle could not hear it as well.

"And you should be assured that there actually _is_ a thief running rampant throughout town." He went on. "I know because I saw her with my own two eyes a few times. She's rather _low,_ thinking that she can fool _anybody."_

She could not have allowed him to get away with thinking he was right.

"I still don't believe _your_ word for it," she tried to sound as polite as possible, in order to not make Elle suspect of any incivility, though it wasn't necessary. "Have you ever considered that you may have misjudged the so-called 'thief'? Perhaps you've made an unfair conclusion on her."

Before Byron could reply, Elle said, "Oh! You're so very stubborn, Aine, aren't you? You barely believe anything unless you have proof of it. But I can't blame you, or convince you out of it." She sighed. "At least you tried, Byron."

Byron took another sip of his drink, and resisted the urge to spew scornful remarks Aine's way.

However, Aine was not done. "Wait," she resumed. "You say that you're being honest, and I'm sure that everybody in this city except me believes you; but isn't it logical enough, if there was truly a thief roaming around, that you would have easily called to get her arrested by now? Especially if you saw her a _few times_ like you're saying?"

He shifted and his lips pursed. "I would have gotten you, I mean _her_ arrested," he answered, correcting himself, and checked to see if Elle had caught the mistake, which fortunately she did not. "Had she been successful in actually stealing something, which she wasn't. Just because she didn't successfully steal, doesn't make her any less of a thief." He defended, but it was all a lie.

Elle, who had finally become aware of the acrimony between her two friends, stopped the conversation.

"All right, you two, there is no need to take this so seriously. I didn't know this would bring up so much tension. Geez, Aine! Let's just be civil, okay?"

Neither said anything, and it remained that way again for a while, until Byron was pulled by Elle to the kitchen.

"Byron, why were you being so rude to her? You're not usually like that." Elle whispered.

"She wasn't being very kind either, if you happened to notice." He grumbled.

"Of course I noticed, but still, why were you acting like that? It's almost as if you two met each other before, and decided to hate each other!"

Elle had no clue how accurate that was. Nonetheless, Byron didn't want her to know the truth, and repelled that notion away. "It was nothing - I got a little riled up, I know. It was just a one time thing, I swear to Arceus' steel plate. It won't happen again." He lied, while taking her hand in his, which instantly caused a blush in Elle, and just like that, she forgave him.

"All right," Elle said. "But I insist on one thing."

"What's that?" Byron frowned.

"Show Aine around the mine. She'll love getting to know the place some more."

"What? No." The suggestion was so damnable, so odious.

"Do it for me." Elle pressed.

He couldn't refuse this. It was for his reputation after all. He couldn't possibly ruin the way Elle perceived him. Because if he let that happen, it could perhaps also ruin the way others perceived him, if Elle somehow spread the word, however unlikely that would be.

So he said: "Fine. But that's it, only that."

Elle beamed with satisfaction. "Thank you so - "

"Don't mention it." He cut her off, but she did not care.

Byron wondered how he was going to keep up with the promise he'd just made, but he was going to, one way or another.

Aine, on the other hand, while they were conversing, knew that they must have been talking of her, and wondered about what exactly. When they returned, she composed herself and straightened her posture; and so Elle brought up another subject matter to talk about, this time not so controversial as the past one.

Nonetheless, tomorrow was going to be quite an amusing day, with a lot of unpredictability, for the cautious Aine and the oh-so-mighty Byron.

To be sure, the run-ins between these two were becoming normal.

**There you have it! Hopefully it was good enough. See you in the next chapter!**


	8. Decency

**A/N: Hello! This chapter is pretty good, in my humble opinion. And there's a subtle development in here for the two main characters...so enjoy.**

**Decency**

"So, you're saying that she stays in the Pokémon Center when you've offered to let her in your apartment?" Byron, upon inquiring of Aine's whereabouts the following day, was both intrigued and unimpressed.

"Oh, yes, but it's only because she doesn't want to be an intruder or something, I'm guessing."

"Well, she already is one," Byron said under his breath.

"Pardon? Didn't hear you."

"Nevermind; just let me get this straight. You want _me_ to show that girl around the mine when there's other workers employed to do that touring job? You know I'm a busy man - "

"But that doesn't mean you can't make time for her. And right now you're talking to me instead of digging out that Omanyte fossil, aren't you?"

Byron couldn't get himself out of this one.

He could easily say that he was on his gym leader duties today, but if Elle happened to walk in through the Gym and not see him there, she'd find out that he lied.

He thus thought of other lies, but nothing extraordinary ran through his head that would appear genuine. Disappointed he was, since he was a great liar when he tried.

It wasn't coming to him at this moment.

"So? Are you going to do it or not?" Elle brought him back to his senses.

"Sure," he agreed lowly, and reluctantly. "So where is she again? The Pokémon Center?"

"Yes, from what I know, she usually is eating breakfast by this time, so you should wait a little more."

_No,_ he thought. _I need to get this over with as soon as possible. No way am I_ _going to wait for her._

He verbalized his thoughts a bit more cordially, saying, "You know I'm kind of impatient. I should leave now. Have a good day, Elle."

"Oh, I see then! Same to you. And thanks for doing this! You'll have a good time with Aine, I'm positive, Byron."

He made sure he had all his pokeballs and then made his way.

* * *

Aine, before leaving whichever Pokémon Center she was in, always made sure she looked decent enough to go out; not to impress anybody, of course, she barely knew anyone; but for her own sake and pleasure.

Clad in an indigo halter dress, and beige, strap-on sandals with her red hair loose, as she preferred it, she headed toward the exit of the Center, after finishing breakfast with her pokémon. The automatic doors opened for her, as well for a person on the other side who was seeking to get in.

They crashed into each other.

"I - excuse me - "

"Watch where the hell you're going." The instantly recognizable, low, conceited male voice made Aine flinch, and she looked up, feeling an arm around her.

"It's _you."_ He observed, and speedily threw her off of him when he noticed that he was holding her with an arm after their crash.

Aine's misfortune kept increasing day by day, and not appreciating that he hastily pushed her down, she indignantly protested, "You're literally and figuratively everywhere around this town. Can't I go a few days without seeing you?" She cleaned herself off as she got up, and he almost felt bad that he pushed her off like that. Almost.

"Listen up, girlie. I don't want to do this, but I have to for my own sake. I came here looking for you and I just want to get this over with, so follow me - "

"Huh?" She stopped him. She was shocked. Looking for her? What could he possibly want her for? "What are you talking about?"

He brushed his hand on the back of his neck, wondering how he could explain this properly. "Long story short: Elle wants me to be all friendly and affable with you, so I'm just gonna take you to the mine, all right?" He bit his lip. "And it would really help my case if you'd cooperate and be quiet the whole entire time."

Aine disliked that he was being decisive without considering listening to her opinion on it. "Ah, don't get ahead of yourself - I haven't even agreed - in fact, I should call Elle to see if this is true or - "

"Don't waste your time, and most importantly, don't waste _my_ time. Follow me, that's all you need to do." He proceeded to walk ahead, but she did not budge.

Instead, she kept true to her word and called Elle.

Stopping where he was, Byron wondered how anyone could be so uncooperative, so stubborn. Was she afraid? He, without a doubt, was not a dangerous, careless person; she had no reason to be afraid. However, they still were, to an extent, strangers to each other, so he let this pass by - hell, he _liked_ the fact that she wasn't silly enough to just go on and walk with him.

Regrettably, Aine's worst expectations were confirmed after she called Elle, finding out that this mishap was true.

And she did not want to be the one to dissatisfy Elle, or more accurately, the one who would give Elle ideas of her loathing for Byron (and vice versa), so she quietly agreed to it. But she wildly hated doing so.

Sighing, she caught up to him and uttered "hurry up", adjusting herself to this, her bag over her shoulders, looking ahead.

"See? You wasted your time - "

"For a good reason. I needed confirmation."

He didn't reply, but his lips slightly went upward.

* * *

"You're not going to say much to me, are you?" Aine questioned him once they arrived at the Oreburgh Mine; he had not spoken a word on the way there, rarely looking at her. "I don't need to talk to you," was all he answered her with.

He led her through the mine, walking here to there, still no word being uttered.

"Do you know why's the only reason I'm doing this?" He said suddenly, startling her. "It's not because I'm going out of my way to be pleasant towards you - it's to keep my good reputation with Elle. If I keep a good rep with her, then I will do so with everyone as well."

Aine raised an eyebrow. "You care solely for how everything ends up for you. You don't think of anyone but yourself. Just as I thought."

"And you, need to quit thinking that you know everything, and that you're always right." He detested that she talked like she knew all that needed to be known about him.

"I don't - you don't understand - " she was caught off guard.

"Anyway," he changed topic, as he turned to a right, where there was the mine's conveyor belt; "Let me teach you this stuff, because to be honest, you know nothing about this. And that's worrisome."

_"...What?"_ Confusion befell her. What was he capable of teaching her?

Like he knew exactly what she was asking, he replied, "You probably think you're the most unteachable person in Sinnoh, since apparently you're really well-read, but I can prove you wrong.

"For example," he resumed, finally settling down at one place, picking up a nearby pick, trowel, and shovel. "Before I begin digging something out, I have to start by picking at it little by little. Of course, I'm gonna use my pick for this, so watch and learn."

She watched, but was somewhat unwilling to learn. Not because of the matter itself, for she longed to learn about it, but because of its current teacher.

The unwillingness decreased gradually as he explained what he was doing, as he worked his mining tools on the present site. In a masterly fashion he did so, that Aine wished she could be half so talented as he was in this field.

If she wanted half his talent, she could only do one thing: practice, as it is known. A request, that she hoped, would not make him laugh or ignore her.

Mustering enough courage to speak, she asked, "May I try?"

This application was enough to make him drop his tools, which banged the ground, and he said:

"How could you ask to do something that you have zero experience in?" He wiped his face. "I'd like to see you try, and fail."

This wasn't the first time she was being doubted by him, so she was not astonished. This did not make her any less upset, though. "You love to underestimate me, don't you?" She paused here, before, "Hand me the pick."

Interested in what she would be able to do (or rather, be _unable_ to do), he complied, and observed closely.

Under his deep gaze, a tug of anxiety she felt at her gut, but she resisted it. Remembering the way he had done it before, she settled nearer and aimed the pick at the rock, and began.

It wasn't too bad, really. In no way did it come naturally to her, but she was decent enough. As the seconds went on, Aine ignored Byron's presence and gaze, and thus she became less uneasy, as did her work on the rock.

And, damn Byron, but he recognized potential when he saw it. This girl, to be sure, had it.

With this realization of her potential, came admiration in the form of a "not bad" directed towards her, which made her lips turn upward in a slight motion. With his admiration of her potential, came some adoration of her...other qualities.

Therefore, his scrutiny softened, but not by much - he refused to stop doubting her; he wanted to catch one little mistake she would commit, and reprimand her for it -

"Whoa, stop there, girlie." He said all of a sudden, "You've done enough. You can't pick the whole entire time, y'know - now it's time for the shovel and trowel." He snatched the mining pick from her grasp abruptly.

So much for his praising her.

Aine herself discerned that the reason why Byron was silent for most of the time she was working, a rare yet pleasant thing in and of itself, was because he could find no error in her work. His "not bad" was enough. And Aine could have sworn to Arceus, that with her side eye view, she could make out Byron getting a bit distracted, by what she didn't know, but it probably had to with her. Only Arceus knew. Aine blushed at the possibilities.

The rest of their time together was spent with his instruction to her, covering all the basics of mining, and in the process, uncovering knowledge about each other. Aine found out that Byron was a Steel-type gym leader, that his own father was a renowned miner, and the like.

For the most part, the two were good enough toward each other for the whole period, enough to surprise themselves. Rarely would an insulting word come out of either's mouth, and when it did, no minor or major altercation arose from it.

At the end of their time spent, Byron dismissed her with, "You weren't so terrible today. Keep it up, girlie, or should I call you _Aine?"_

Flushing lightly, she replied, "I...I leave that for you to decide."

"Oh really? I'll let you know soon then."

_Soon?_

As in, they were going to meet each other again, _consensually?_

Aine pursed her lips, trying to hold back a laugh, and said, "And you yourself, weren't _half_ so bad as I've come to expect."

He snickered. "Shut up, and leave already." However, he declared this in a humorous way more than a reprimanding one, something he slightly regretted.

"Fine, then," said Aine, smirking. "I'll see you then."

What could be the meaning of all this, which had occurred today? These two people so fixed on hating each other, managed a somewhat agreeable day together.

Aine was puzzled herself, at his decency toward her today - he was certainly not very respectful of her, but even so, he was not so cruel to her as he was on previous occasions. Again, he was pretty decent - a light kindness perhaps. Aine's own good judgment was not useful in determining what could be the meaning of his behavior toward her today.

She also was not too sure what _she herself_ felt on it, and this worried her.

Could this all develop?

**How was it? I liked it myself, so...tell me!**


	9. A Gym Battle---and a Date?

**A/N: I am back! Enjoy.**

**A Gym Battle-and a Date?**

Byron was in his gym's office, and he was in pure contemplation.

How could he be so fair with her? How could he compliment her the way he did, even if it was a tiny and vague remark? How could he think her attractive enough to stare at her from a distance? How could he tell a person he _barely trusted_ about himself? A person whom he was convinced that he entirely hated, from head to toe?

He doubted whether he should blame himself, or her.

Fighting with himself in this way would not make things better; but he had to think of it, or else he would go totally mad that he was not able to sort his feelings out.

Wait, _feelings?_ He had _no_ feelings towards that despicable woman! He hardly in his life harbored any feelings for any woman who was not family.

It was now that he noted, how much Aine was clouding his thoughts, possessing the majority of it. How easily he let her get into his head!

And he believed he was in control of his thoughts!

Sensing his trainer's distress about this, something Shieldon was not used to discerning from Byron, the pokémon approached the gym leader. Byron looked up from his office's desk at the sound of the fossil pokémon's steps. "Yes, Shieldon?"

In a few cries, said pokémon let Byron know that he knew what he was lately on about, and asked if there was anything he could do to help his trainer.

"I'm OK," sighed Byron, "There's just some girl messing with me lately. Don't worry, I'll solve the problem for myself." He said normally, but was surprised that even one of his pokémon could tell his moodiness at the moment.

The pokémon settled near him on his desk, to ensure his well-being.

Byron checked his watch. It was half past eleven, and it was an hour ago since he began on gym duty; and not one trainer came so far.

_Man, is the Sinnoh League getting tougher, or what? Nobody's been coming in lately._

It was true. Byron often sat in boredom by his desk in the gym these days, on duty, but with little to no trainers coming to challenge him. The last time a trainer came to him was four days ago! And Byron handily beat them, too.

To alleviate his boredom Byron usually had all his pokémon out wandering the gym and he would laugh and talk with them; he also worked out in the Gym, so it wasn't that bad; however, the lack of good, valid trainers was making him wonder why in Arceus' name was he still obliged to be on duty, when he could be doing more productive things, like continuing to dig out the rare Omanyte fossil...

Which, of course, brought his thoughts back to _her._

"Damn!" He slapped his hand on his desk, startling Shieldon. "The girl keeps infesting my thoughts!"

The pokémon calmed his trainer down, and Byron apologized.

"I'm sorry," he said. "My fault."

Shieldon accepted it sincerely, but left to do who-knows-what.

Byron only miserably placed his palm on face, and stayed like that for a while.

"Hey, Byron?" came the voice of a gym worker after five minutes, and Byron's five senses returned.

"Yes?" The steel type gym leader tried to reply as calmly as possible.

"I heard you aren't doing well, courtesy of your Shieldon - so is there anything I can do for you?"

Byron smiled at his pokémon's caring nature - he always valued those sort of things, in spite of what certain people might have thought of him; he answered, "Just get me a glass of cold water, Mervyn. Thanks."

The gym worker named Mervyn nodded, and left. Byron returned to his thoughts, and sighed in frustration. His Shieldon returned, and offered him comfort, but Byron gently pushed him away, saying, "I swear, I'm fine."

Byron could tell the fossil pokémon would not buy it; although Byron was in pure boredom these past days, it wasn't till today when the pokémon observed in his trainer some signs of trouble.

A normally vivacious, eager, yet tough-as-an-Aggron guy like him...how could he be troubled by anything? Especially by some random woman?

The previously mentioned Mervyn hastily entered the office, his hold on the glass of water stiff so that it wouldn't fall, and he exclaimed: "Here you go, Byron. I don't mean to rush you, but a challenger just came! I know you're very bored from the lack of challengers but now one is here! They'd like to start as soon as possible, they say."

Byron's eyes, his countenance lit up. Finally, a trainer who was not afraid to face him! He would be forever grateful to this person, arriving exactly at a time when he was both bored out of his wits and distressed, but only if they managed to beat him and hold up an exciting battle.

"Tell them I'm coming for them," Byron stated, and drank a quenching sip of cool water.

"All right, I'll tell 'em, and I'm gonna call the referee."

Byron sat back in his chair, and grinned. At last, something to cure him of his boredom and uneasiness about a particular person.

* * *

Aine knew what she was getting herself into.

Ever since her first encounter with him, she had been inclined to avoid him for good although somehow her efforts were mostly unsuccessful. She was taking a risk, but for her own sake, and her pokémon's, she had to come to the Gym. It was either now or never.

As for the day before? Aine was unsure of it - they _weren't_ at each other's throats completely; in fact she could recall him even teasing her a little bit, and damn her, but she had teased him back.

Before that gave her other ideas, she made an attempt to forget it.

The gym worker who had attended to her told her that the Gym Leader was on his way; Aine waited patiently, but nervously for him to come out; in the meantime, she paced the battle arena, which was the most tough-looking Gym she had been in yet; gracing every inch were purely iron metal, titanium patterned floors and walls; there was also rocky terrain in the area, giving off a seriousness to the place.

"Are you all ready?" Aine asked her three companions, who were out of their pokeballs.

Prinplup eagerly agreed; Scyther made some loud cry in agreement as well; and even Bronzor itself was pretty animated for the upcoming match.

Aine had prepared for this; she'd done enough training to beat the gym leader, get her badge, and leave this city.

"OK!" shouted an all-too familiar voice. Aine, up until now, had never heard this amount of liveliness in it. "Where are you, challenger?"

"I'm here," she answered, looking the other way.

That feminine voice.

The one that spoke so sharply.

The one that belonged to the exact person who was on his mind not too long ago.

All of a sudden, his vivacity died down.

"Why is she here?" He asked himself, but she heard him.

"I'm going to challenge you. Why else?"

Of course! She wanted a badge! Maybe, he thought, he should lose to her just to make her go away. No, no, that would too be easy, and unfair to his pokémon.

He was going to win. But he wasn't only going to defeat her. He wanted to crush her spirits, to make her lose all hope of ever beating him for the badge. He was personally going to let her know, that she wasn't good enough of a trainer, and that she should never come back again.

He regained his eagerness. "Fine, then, girlie." He reached for a pokeball, and threw it forth. "Magnemite, show them your great defense!"

Aine would have never guessed that Byron was this lively during gym battles; it made her giggle a bit, and she said, at last, "Scyther, come out here!"

The referee came, reciting the rules. Once over, Byron let Aine have the first move, beginning the match.

* * *

"You seem very stressed over there, girlie!" shouted Byron in the midst of battle, when he had the upper hand; he was down to two pokémon while Aine was at one, and she didn't like that he was taking advantage of her stress. She resisted feelings of blaming herself, because she believed to have prepared better than this. He was _way_ stronger than she thought...and he greatly emphasized defense throughout the match thus far. His pokémon's defenses were all so good, that her own could barely land attacks. However, she noticed in his pokémon a weakness in speed, but even then, she didn't take full advantage of that. How she regretted it. To think, she might have had the upper hand by now!

Byron admitted to himself that he'd never had so much fun demoralizing somebody. To see that he caused her to become a mess! She was doubting herself, he knew it.

Such diversion! A laugh came out of Byron, the kind that is meant to send out a message of ridicule and derision, and Aine for the first time found herself to be genuinely hurt by it. It was only yesterday when she received a little appreciation from him, which, to be frank, gave her a warm feeling inside, but alas! She should have expected him to return to this sort of hurtful, cocky attitude. How could she for a second, think him capable of being pleasant, at least toward her? But Aine should have expected it, shouldn't she have?

Seeing that Aine was not doing or saying anything, standing there dejectedly, Byron asked of her, "Hey, c'mon. We don't have all day."

"You're right," said Aine, taking out her pokeball and withdrawing Prinlup with it. "I forfeit."

"You forfeit?" Byron was surprised; he didn't expect someone as headstrong as her to give in so easily. It...disappointed him. He was having a blast up to this moment.

"Yes," replied Aine, her eyes taking interest in the ground. "That said, you technically won. Good for you, Byron." She took a seat on the bleachers close by, and tried to gather herself.

"Wait," he withdrew his own pokémon, and headed to where she was. Reluctantly, he took a seat next to her. "Why'd you do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? You and I both know that I was going to lose anyway. And I can't stand the fact that you're amusing yourself by it all."

"So?" Byron asked. "Can't - "

"All that, along with the fact that it was only yesterday when you were being decent to me, and I thought - "

"What did you think?" Byron questioned her. "You didn't believe that was actually going to last, right?"

"I - I would have been silly if I thought so - but _no, I __didn't_ \- " she, admittedly, lied at that part. "I need to go." She began to prepare her bag to leave.

Goodness, had he actually made her feel this bad? To the point where she didn't want to finish the match? That she wasn't being as obstinate, as strong-willed, as sharp-tongued as she usually was, worried him to a degree. All those qualities, were what he liked about her - _yes,_ he liked, he respected. The acceptance of this sentiment did not come until this very second, when she was about to go, and he acted out on it.

Aine, hurriedly checking and gathering her belongings, was but a moment away from quitting the Gym, when a unanticipated, yet gentle tug at her hand stopped her.

_"What?"_ Aine snapped, impatiently and nervously, shivering at the contact, especially since he did not let go.

"...stay. C'mon." He requested a little hesitantly.

"Stay? For what? I gave you the battle. What else do you want? My dignity?"

"No." he said, and not thinking clearly on what he was about to say next - "I want to repay you."

Aine's attention was captured. However, she quickly figured that he had to be messing with her, trying to tear her down further. "You're joking," she stated, and tried to make her way, when again, the contact with her hand was made, this time firmer.

"I'm not," he looked at her seriously, and Aine's eyes widened. "Look, let me just repay you for giving the battle to me." As solemnly as he said this, Byron still hid the true meaning of wanting her to stay. How strange it was, that he felt remorse for making her feel bad, when it was his original intention to do so! A man in the process of falling in love sometimes lacks stability.

"Repay me? How?" Aine raised a brow.

How? He didn't think of this - and yet, with all the assurance of a confident response, he said, "Come to dinner with me tonight."

Aine's color changed to the shade of her hair, while confusion, aversion, and a small dose of delight overcame her. It couldn't be possible.

How could _he,_ of all men, ask her for dinner? Didn't he hate her? Wasn't she the most abominable creature in he ever knew, ever since _that_ day? And the little subtle feeling she was getting, something close to pleasure, if it wasn't completely, that he would want her to get supper with him, was worthy of her disgust.

Yet, the pleasured, delighted part of her commanded her reply, "I would...enjoy it."

"Is that a yes, girlie?" - a teasing, yet serious tone came with this question.

Her lips pursed upward. "Yes, it is actually." She replied a little more confidently.

He grinned, took her hand, and pulled her a bit closer, enough to whisper in her ear: "At six. Meet me here. Bring your quick mouth, because I'm feeling like arguing with you tonight." Gently, he pushed her away.

The color in Aine rose, darknened, much more so than it was before. His actions caught her off guard, but she responded composedly, "...Isn't...my mouth what you don't like about me?"

"I don't like anything about you," - an evident lie, but it still puzzled her; "But I'm willing to bear with you for once."

"I hope I can feel the same way."

"Whatever, girlie," Byron chuckled. "Just remember what we have set for later today."

Aine could not believe she had agreed to this. Byron himself, wondered what made him propose the idea in the first place.

**Yup, he asked her out. And their first gym battle together didn't go exactly as either of them wanted...anyway, I hope that anyone who is reading is liking how this story is coming out! If you don't, please tell me what I can improve on. Ideas would be great too...**

**Find out what their date's going to be like...In the next chapter, of course!**


	10. How Charmingly He Behaved!

**I'm back, with a _long_ chapter and quite a few events here...read on, and enjoy. Tell me what you think too, if you can, I appreciate that highly.**

**How Charmingly He Behaved!**

Aine had told Elle all about it.

After all, the person who so expertly _introduces_ two other people, whatever may have been the perceived circumstances under which they met, automatically deserves to know all the details about what goes on with them afterward.

Aine had expected Elle's reaction to consist of excitement, when she made out that Elle was...disappointed, confused even, to say the least.

"Byron..." began Elle. "He...asked you out."

Aine's lips pursed. She herself couldn't believe its truth. "He did."

"Why?"

It was a genuine question. The answer, Aine could not figure out.

"...After I gave up the battle, he came over to me and all of a sudden he asked me, and I said yes after a while."

_"Why_ did you say yes?"

Elle was being much more skeptical than usual, a trait that Aine would have never attributed to her bubbly friend.

As for the question, Aine answered the following, but she did not rely on her own words: "He was very polite...very kind...he saw that I wasn't feeling well and...I appreciated that, I suppose."

Elle's features relieved, and so did her mood, as though she heard satisfactory news that made her content when she was previously displeased, saying, "Oh. I see. He saw you weren't doing good, so, out of common courtesy, he approached you and comforted you! He is a true, kind-hearted person like that - I've told you many times before." Leaning over toward Aine, Elle started curling her red locks in between her fingers.

It seemed like there might have been another layer beneath those words, trapped inside the mind of the speaker. In spite of this feeling, Aine replied, "...I'm sure he is."

Elle beamed.

"So...at what time are you going to meet him? And where?"

"At six today...at his Gym. I have no idea what we're going to do, though."

"You should have asked him! But I'm sure you'll have a good time. Byron, in my opinion, is not capable of showing a woman a bad time."

* * *

She had dressed in one of her usual halter dresses for the occasion. Nothing special. She wasn't expecting to be impressed; therefore, she should not have been expected to do anything impressive herself.

_You've come a __long way..._ Aine's main psychic pokemon butted into her thoughts.

_What do you mean?_

_Think about it. Remember all those rumors that this city had against you? They've all slowly disappeared. You haven't heard one in a __couple of days, I __would bet...In addition to that, you really seem to be pushing yourself now..._

Aine had also noticed the rumors had gone, and was very glad of it; however, Bronzor's words about her "pushing herself" made her wonder...she was already getting ideas at what the pokémon was hinting at.

_What makes you say that, Bronzor?_

_You know what I __mean - __this, what you're doing right now. I was in surprise when you agreed to go on this 'date' with that man, which is why I haven't addressed you until now. Don't you hate him? Find him absolutely repulsive? Isn't your main goal in this city to avoid him as best as you can, until you're able to leave? You've gotten_ _a __bit braver since first stepping foot in this town, and yet...I haven't expected you to go so far as to accept a __date with him._

_Me neither,_ answered Aine. _But today, you must've seen what he did! He was so different. He seemed genuinely concerned for me and for what I felt. To the point where I willingly said yes. This doesn't mean I'm not suspicious of him anymore. I really __do, at heart, loathe him, but today...today is an exception._

_If you really do loathe him, you would not give him_ one_ exception._

Aine would not continue this subject. It worried her, that her pokémon might be right. And she didn't want to enter a date full of worry.

In this very moment, Aine realized, this was to be her first date.

Marvelous. How many people can say they had their first dates with someone they hated?

* * *

He waited.

Anticipation and regret were his main feelings at the moment. The first was as any guy might feel: 'Will the woman even show up?'; 'How's it all going to start?'; 'I won't know what to do when she arrives!' Nothing out of the ordinary.

The second feeling was because maybe he shouldn't have asked her in the first place. That woman really was taking him over, but he was not thinking of that when he asked her out. Instead, during the whole thing, he thought of how bad he felt for her, his inclination to make her feel better, her witty mouth, her witty mind, her nice smile; _her._

He hung his head once he realized what he was doing.

_If I tell anyone that I'm thinking like this about someone - whether it's the guys I work with, my pokémon, or hell, even my dad - I can only imagine their reactions._

_'You must be in love, man,'_ Byron imagined. _'Who's the fortunate girl? What was it about her that got you into her? Is she even into _you?'

"I can't tell anybody about her. The risks are too high that they'll ask who she is or whatever. I don't want that..."

"Byron!" called a gym worker, running to where the gym leader was, all of sudden. "Someone's here to see you..."

_It's her... _

"Okay," approved Byron. "I'll go see her. Thanks, Mervyn."

"She's a real pretty lass," said Mervyn. "But I wonder why she's here again. Didn't you say she forfeited the match? What could she possibly be here for again?"

"I've got no idea..." lied Byron, and rightly so; a person attempting to hide something should not increase or encourage the suspicions of others; instead, they ought to lead them into another direction, "...She's probably here to tell me when she wants her rematch, yeah, I bet it's that."

"I guess so! You must have been dominating her so well in that match to the point where she forfeited!"

"Right? The girl was so devastated, so she deserves at least to schedule a rematch..." Byron pressed on even further.

It was funny, that right then, a thought occurred to Byron similar to that of Aine's.

_This girl's the first date I've had in a while..._

He shook his head, prepared himself, and made his way to where she was waiting.

* * *

Aine paced slowly back and forth, in the lobby area of the gym. Not desperately, but cautiously.

She wondered if he was making his way to where she was. Or if he planned to stand her up.

Anything was possible; especially since he was a gym leader and gym leaders tended to be very wild -

"Is that you, girlie?"

Swiftly, she swiveled around to where she heard the voice. And saw him.

He wore a confident grin. And dressed a little fancier than usual...

"You...look good." was all she managed, and she meant it.

"Well, thanks, although I really didn't need you to reassure me of that - I _know_ I do." he said teasingly, and she let out a giggle; "And you...you don't get sick of wearing those dresses, do you?"

"You noticed?"

"Of course. You've worn those every time I've seen you, including now."

Aine chuckled again, crossing her arms and flipping her hair back. She wanted to get right to it, wanted to see what exactly Byron had in store for her. "So. Where are you taking me? I want to be entertained. I don't like getting bored."

"Nor do I," he said, approaching her, offering his left arm towards her, which she willing took. "But maybe you should wait till' we get there. Makes everything better." Byron actually had a particular place in mind. He had even set up a reservation in the restaurant earlier in the day, and it was obviously granted to him soon after, for reasons just as obvious.

He only hoped that she'd like it.

* * *

"Wow. This place...looks expensive. Are you sure you want to take me here? I don't need _half_ this much." was Aine's first comment upon arriving.

The restaurant was not in Oreburgh; it resided in its neighbor city, Jubilife, the most developing place in Sinnoh. It definitely gave off the aura of luxury and grandeur. Luminous lights flashed into differently hued colors every five seconds on the outer decor, while the building itself was made of fine red brick. People of consequence surrounded it, waiting to get inside. Aine had been a little surprised when they took a bus to get there; she hadn't expected to be taken out of town, much less at a restaurant this fancy. Not only that, but Aine was surprised that the roads to exit Oreburgh City were now clear.

"I'm positive," replied Byron, pleased with her expression. "I'm not the type of guy to go to places like these a lot, but if I want to, I can. I'm a gym leader, and as you know, a good one at that. So I can afford this place. What...you didn't think otherwise, did you?" He eyed her.

"It's only that...I wasn't picturing a place like this. I wasn't expecting to be taken out of Oreburgh." Aine said, as her partner took her arm again, leading to the front of the line, skipping over a couple dozen people. "Hey! Are you even allowed to do this - "

"Girlie, I made reservation. No worry."

When the workers at the door let them in after Byron told them that he'd made a reservation, Aine's astonishment peaked.

But then her astonishment took the form of skepticism.

"...Byron...you seem liked you've planned this entire thing carefully...Should I be suspicious?"

"Of what?" He asked with a wary expression, leading her to their reserved table-for-two. "I planned this today, after you forfeited the gym battle. I made the reservation over the phone, and of course these people know me, so they gave it to me in an instant...Are you really worried?" His brows furrowed.

"Ah, no. Suspicious, yes. But not anymore. I needed you to clarify, that's all."

"Hm." He huffed. "Good, then. Wouldn't like to have you doubtful of me. If that's so, then what would be the point of this? If you're not enjoying yourself, I mean..."

"You want me to enjoy myself?"

Byron stuttered when they happened to sit down at their spot, which was by a wide clear window on the first floor of the restaurant, overlooking the rest of the impressive city at night. "I...uh...what I meant was, it's a waste to take a beautiful woman out on a date if she's not enjoying herself. Do you know what I mean? Don't twist my words, girlie, but then that's a bad habit of yours, isn't it?"

"Wait," Aine swallowed, catching on to what he said, "A beautiful woman? A date?" Aine flushed a little. "You may need to clarify some more."

Byron couldn't say anything for a while, till: "Don't get so self-absorbed. I was speaking in general terms. And technically, wouldn't this be a date? Or are you offended by that? You can't imagine yourself being taken out by a guy like me? Or -"

"...All right, all right," Aine laughed softly, but the flush in her cheeks was as present as ever. "You're getting carried away. But, ah, believe it or not, I do consider this a date. Why not, right? It's harmless...Now, why don't you tell me about any other _beautiful women_ who didn't enjoy the dates on which you took them?" Aine said that last part mockingly, and Byron's irritated reaction pleased her.

"Man, I wonder if I'll get through the night intact..."

The cordial waiter came with the menu, and left. After a few minutes of checking it out, he returned to take their orders, which were granted promptly.

Despite the mild chatter that filled the five-star restaurant, a silence existed between the pair while waiting for and receiving their orders. It seemed odd that two individuals out on a date, as they say, were not conversing.

Aine hoped that he'd start a conversation again as she dug a fork into her food, avoiding his eye.

_You are getting very flustered with this man._

"Be quiet." Aine whispered angrily, to the pokémon speaking to her in her head.

"Huh?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing." Aine assured Byron, who was sure she'd said something, but let it go with a nod of the head.

Looking at her as he took a bite, he began, "You were pretty shocked at your first sight of this restaurant. I take it that you're not used to this kind of place. Are you from the country?"

Aine looked to meet his curious gaze. "I'm from Celestic Town. It's on the country side of Sinnoh, and probably the least advanced town in Sinnoh. So, yes, I was pretty shocked at seeing this place, this city...but I feel like that whenever I enter any new city; you know, compared to Celestic."

"I see. You're accustomed to a humble style of living."

"Exactly, that's why I'm so amazed."

Byron chuckled. "So you like the modest life, but you're not exactly so modest yourself, with that smart mind and mouth of yours..."

"I take pride in my personality."

"And I take pride in mine, girlie.

"By the way, Aine, don't think I'm all about _this,"_ Byron made a hand gesture which suggested that he was talking about the grand restaurant. "Deep down, I'm a miner; I love to dig fossils, train with my pokémon and whatnot. That's my life. And of course, show trainers who's boss during gym matches..."

Aine made a sound of uneasiness. She did not want to be reminded of what had occured earlier, not yet; and Byron caught on, so he stopped.

"...Did you hear what I said, Aine?"

"Oh, yes." Aine remembered, a little embarrassed. "You don't come across as the type of guy who'd be doing all these fancy things on a constant basis. Mining is what you're passionate about, right? I believe you, which is another reason why I _couldn't_ believe you took me here in the first place. You certainly aren't about all of this. And...hopefully your ego balloon doesn't explode because of this, but the fact that you do have easy access to places like this...that's classy."

Byron grinned. "Glad to hear that, girlie. Thanks. I don't have to try to be classy, I just am, aren't I?"

Aine took a sip of her glass of wine. "Mmm. You have a high reputation, and maybe _some_ class. _Besides,_ you're a..."

"Besides? I'm a what?"

"Forget it," Aine brushed the subject off, and suddenly Bronzor talked to her again: Y_ou were about to tell him off...about what a horrible man he is! And you decide not to? _

"Mind your business," Aine muttered a thought that was supposed to be kept internal.

"Excuse me?" Byron raised an eyebrow, hearing exactly what she'd said, and saw a strange facial expression on her, as if she were arguing with herself...

"Don't mind me, Byron," Aine tried to make him lose suspicion. "I mutter meaningless things at times."

Byron kept note of this odd behavior, but again, left it alone for the time being.

Instead, he seemed to want to start on another topic. Devouring a few sliced pieces of fish, he proceeded to approach the topic somewhat hesitantly, as if he were afraid he might have been doing her too much of favor by touching upon it at all. In truth, he'd been thinking about it for a while, and decided that now was a good moment to let his partner know.

"There's something I need to tell you..."

Aine felt alerted at his tone; she hadn't heard him speak reluctantly much before, but told him to go on anyway.

"The other day when we were at the Oreburgh Mine...remember, I took you? Not because I wanted to, but our friend Elle wanted me to take you."

Aine nodded, taking a sip of wine. "I remember. What about it?"

Byron cleared his throat before continuing. "Let's say that I don't think that was an entirely horrible experience, not like other times before with you." He was possibly going to regret saying this later.

Aine processed his remark in. Basically, he was saying that the experience was actually a pretty good one, and Aine didn't disagree. It was the first time the two had spent together when they were not at each other's throats completely. Hell, Aine herself had some fun; Byron had let her use a mining pick on his Omanyte fossil after he demonstrated to her how it was used. To both their surprises, albeit she was not a natural, she performed decently, and he went so far as to compliment her, admire her in more ways than one. Afterward, it ran across both Aine's and Byron's minds that they may have even flirted a bit, but this thought terrified them both equally, and so it was disposed of. However, this did not take away from what did happen, which, in contrast to their first few encounters together, was total peacefulness.

Aine noticed that Byron seemed like he wanted to say more, and let him do so.

"What else? Well, from what I saw of you, I thought that you had some potential...that uh, should not be wasted. Really. You're pretty talented. I can show you how to mine more in depth. I think you could do it."

Aine set her fork down. Was he really saying this? No, the better question was: did he mean it? This could not have just come out of his mouth so suddenly. She stared at him, studied him. The way he said it, he sounded reluctant, as if he did not want to admit the truth; and he hung his head slightly, avoiding her eye. He couldn't have been staging this - if he was an actor of some sort then her doubts would stay - but she could tell he was being real.

Not only that - he had just openly admitted that she had potential, that he believed her to be 'pretty talented', and offered to 'show her more' about mining.

When Byron decided to look up, he saw rose-tinted cheeks in the young woman in front of him. Perhaps he'd made her feel a little too good. He bit his lip. "I...seriously can show you more about how to mine. You'd have to meet with me more often for that, however, and you...can get intense. And I can't handle you; well, sort of. I'm learning." He laughed. Her blush reddened. "Honestly, you can become good at mining in no time; probably not as great as me, but good enough, don't you think?"

_There he goes again._ "...I hope you're being truthful! If you really believe in me like you say, then...I accept your offer."

He nodded, smiling coyly, suggesting of things to come, but his words meaningful nonetheless. "You're not going to regret it, Aine. I think I can bear with you, girlie..."

They finished dinner, drinking the rest of their wine and talking some more. Byron purposefully encited blushes in Aine for the sake of messing with her, but of course, since Aine was who she was, she'd too make comebacks that would make him flustered himself in turn. They decided against dessert because the bill would be high enough without it, and Aine didn't want Byron to pay so much, even though he assured her he had money enough, but she still refused. Once that was all said and done, they made their way out. Until, a woman who appeared like something along the ranks of a manager, stopped them.

"Byron!" She exclaimed, as if she and he had been acquainted for long. "Were you really about to leave without saying a word to me? The woman who made your reservations? Oh, no, but I must not blame you," here she looked at Aine with a wide smile, "A pretty young lady like you would have any young man's attention at her whim!"

The pair frowned but also flushed, when Byron said, "No, Ms. Rodella, it's nothing like that. We're only..." Byron looked at Aine for approval. She nodded. "Friends."

"Oh, Byron, that's the usual excuse from any two young lovers denying their love to the world! 'Friends'! How silly. But you two can trust me, I won't tell a soul." said Ms. Rodella, in a loud manner.

Aine intervened to prevent any misunderstanding and awkwardness between her and Byron. "No, ma'am, in all honesty, I'm a...friend of Byron's. Nothing more. What, can't friends go out for dinner without being accused of being a couple?" Aine shot in a determined manner, and the lady was evidently taken aback. "But, ah, you have a lovely place here. Thank you for the reservation." And with that, she pulled Byron away to leave, and so they did.

Byron wore an amused smile, and said: "Wow, thank you. That manager, she _is_ pretty intrusive, isn't she? Your assertion was on point." He chuckled, admiring Aine's work. "Only one thing...that woman likes me and she gets my spots in there, so, ah, be careful."

"I don't have to be careful if somebody's bothering me." Aine stated, as he offered her his arm again, which she accepted.

The sky showed the sun gone, indicating the nighttime was about to fall. Byron checked his watch for confirmation. Two minutes till' eight. They waited for the bus back to Oreburgh.

The trip back was mostly silent. The two were unusually close together in their seats, though. At one point, her left hand appeared on his lap and he slowly took in his right one with a firm grasp. Aine made a squeaking sound, while her partner chuckled and teased her. Neither pulled apart, and their respective left and right hands remained intertwined for the rest of the trip.

They got off twenty minutes later. Byron thought it was appropriate to accompany Aine to the Pokémon Center and let her off. He was also thinking...

To offer her something else.

They were approaching the Center when he said, unexpectedly: "Hey, Aine. I was wondering..."

She looked at him, stopping in front of the Center. The air was cool and occasionally some refreshing breezes whistled through. Calmness pervaded the night and Byron hoped that she'd react well to his offer.

She gazed up at him. He was a couple of inches taller than her, she realized, and his mahogany spiked hair was a bit freer today in that the wind blew through it, flowing. The modest golden light of a nearby street lamp faintly shone on both their faces, and Aine saw his violet orbs regarding her with inhibition.

"You were wondering?" Aine encouraged him.

"Huh? Oh, yes. See, I think it must get really boring for you to stay in the Pokémon Center while you're here, and I wanted to let you know that...ah, you should really stay at my place for the rest of your time here in Oreburgh. Y'know what I mean?"

Aine remembered a similar offer she had received from someone else - Elle - not too long ago. Then, Aine did not feel like staying at someone else's home; the idea of it unsettled her, especially since she and Elle had not known each other long when the offer was made.

But in all truth, the Pokémon Center _had_ been dulling her out lately; yes, indeed, the Nurse Joys were as charismatic and helpful as their job required them to do, but the presence of other bothersome trainers was making Aine sigh and wish she'd had another place to stay in. Not to mention that the daily meals also bored her as well, and she had never stayed in a Pokémon Center so long before. It was not until now that a solid, well-timed opportunity appeared for her to remain elsewhere.

The only real obstacle in her acceptance of his offer was...

"Do you think that you and me are going to be able to coexist together, for Arceus-knows-how-long?"

"Peacefully? If _you_ would make an effort to do so..." Byron pressed.

"Then _you'd_ have to as well."

_"You'd_ be the guest, though."

"And _you_ the host. What type of host doesn't adjust to their guest's needs?"

Byron cracked a smile. He just couldn't win with this girl. "Fine, then, we'd _both_ have to make an effort to coexist peacefully. Do you accept my offer, girlie?"

Aine clutched at her bag, and flushed. She was blushing too much today, frankly. "Yes, why not, then? I _am_ getting bored, even kind of tired of staying in the Center for so long."

Byron checked his watch. It wasn't too late, as it was barely nine yet. The transition might as well have happened now. "Tell me, Aine, do you carry many things?"

Aine was pleasantly surprised that he was considering her in this way. He hadn't been much like this prior to today. "No, I only carry this bag and another one that's inside the Center right now...are you thinking - "

"I sure am," he assured her, leaning on a nearby pole. "If you want to right now, then go ahead. I'll wait for you here as you get anything else you need."

And so it happened.

Aine and Byron walked to his home, after Aine retrieved her other bag from the Pokémon Center. It was a silent walk, but then a question occurred to Aine that had not come up before.

"Do you live with anybody?"

"I...ah, with my father. But he's away right now, doing work in the underground and whatnot."

"So...he's not with you at all currently? Just you?"

"Yes."

Byron's home laid on the outskirts of Oreburgh, where two other houses lay on either side of his own. It was on a flat, yet wide green hill, and was built just like almost every other house in town, wooden and with a little front porch.

He let her in, after turning the house's front door lock with a key.

"Welcome to my humble abode, girlie," said Byron, with an exaggerated voice. "...Make yourself comfortable, but not too much...and don't _steal_ anything, if you can help yourself." He added, with emphasis on 'steal', alluding to a certain past situation.

"Excuse me? Did you...did you just...are you serious? I just got here, and you - "

"OK, OK, it's OK. Calm down - "

"If I'm going to stay here, you have to treat me with the respect I deserve. How can you even allude to that? Do you really still think that I was going to steal your fossil?" Aine snapped.

Byron sighed. "I apologize, if that makes you feel better. Let me show you your room, girlie. Follow me."

She did so; but her mood was unchanged. She didn't want to believe Byron said that to her, especially not after how much of a good time he just showed her.

He opened a door that was at the end of a decently-sized, lighted hallway.

"Goodnight," he said after she took a good look at the room. "If you need anything, tell me. I'll be in the living room..."

"Wait there." Aine told him, as she laid her bags down. She approached him. "Even though that last comment you made was inappropriate and unnecessary, I want to...thank you for taking me out. For dinner. I enjoyed it."

"It was the least I could do for you after the battle we had earlier today..." he rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm glad to hear you enjoyed yourself...I did too." He whispered the last part, but she heard him anyway. She smiled as he patted her on the back. Soon enough, he left the room, leaving Aine by herself.

She then plopped on the bed, delighting in the sensation of her body squishing gently on soft, homemade sheets and pillows. Forgetting the minor incident that had just occurred, her mind wandered off to the date she had just been taken out on. It may have been outrageous, but she enjoyed everything about it; the food, the conversation, his laugh, the way he looked at her, the way she'd thrown off the manager, even the bus ride back to Oreburgh.

And now this?

She was doing very well, wasn't she? A woman in the process of falling in love delights in the little things as much the big things. In fact, Aine began to appreciate a certain little Omanyte fossil back in the Oreburgh Mine, which had, more or less, served simultaneously as a form of unison and division between herself and Byron, the man to whom she was growing a little more partial as the days passed.

Her Bronzor, although tempted to say something to its daydreaming trainer, knew that it could not save her.

Aine stretched and kept on in her peaceful reverie, until drowsiness befell her and sleep overtook her.

**There it is! I hope this is good to you, I myself think so. But of course, I can't know for sure without your opinion...Tell me anything really, so as long as it's honest. Thank you, and see you in the next chapter!**


	11. She Denies & He Acknowledges

**Here I am with the latest chapter to this story! I don't have much to say, so I'll let you all read now. **

**She Denies; He Acknowledges **

The rest of the week was spent very warmly and snugly by Aine. She was in peace and quietness in Byron's home, something for which she was grateful.

Even though they lived among each other now, they still didn't see much of each other, for an understandable reason: he had gym duties, which would occupy him for most of the week days. He also had work to do in the mine, sometimes arriving home as late as midnight. Not that Aine cared - well, sort of. She didn't exactly long for his company, but it was nice to have it when she had the chance. And it wasn't like she _had_ to stay inside, either; he had given her a spare key to the house in case she wanted to go out, under the excuse of, 'I don't want you inside my home all the time while I'm gone, therefore I'm giving you this key so you'll be able to lock the door if you want to go out.' How very caring of him, and advantageous for the both of them!

When he was gone, Aine would simply either stay inside or go out to train, eat, or shop. Her pokémon also liked the living space almost as much as their trainer did, but they couldn't help but feel wary that she was staying with a guy whom they all met under such egregious circumstances. Of this feeling, Aine's Bronzor was the most vocal, asking her if she did not feel strange staying with the man, in his home.

"He's not an entirely bad person, you know," answered Aine, stretching on the patterned sofa that belonged to the man who was the subject of the conversation with her pokémon. "How can I say so, when he took me out that other day and offered me to stay here? Keep in mind that my opinion of him is not entirely good. I won't forget the rumors that were spread around the city, or that abrasive attitude that he's shown before. That makes me resent him. But I do see that he has a kinder, more caring, even playful side..." and so she trailed off.

'You held his hand when you were coming back from that date of yours, remember? If your opinion of him is not entirely good, then why do that? Especially something like that. Imagine if someone had been looking at you two from afar. What would it seem like? Yes, Aine, whether you choose to deny or not, it seemed like you were lovers. And you ought to be careful, I warn you: any more of that behavior, especially if done in public, will cause you two to actually be called lovers...'

Aine's Scyther and Prinlup echoed this possibility, with one of them adding that if anyone found out that she was staying with Byron, suspicions would be raised, including that one of being his lover.

Appalled by the term 'lovers', Aine said that nothing of the kind was possible. She wasn't even sure if they were _friends,_ to say the least, and continued with: "I understand, and I don't disagree with you. But please, don't accuse me of that. It's far from the truth. And I'm careful enough not to let it slip that I'm staying with Byron. You should know that."

* * *

The day passed on. Aine chose to stay inside; she was, admittedly, too indolent to do otherwise. The comfort of a humble abode was starting to settle in on her and all she could do was take naps and eat whenever she felt hungry. Her wild red hair showed signs of carelessness as her head lazily lay on a pillow for most of the day, and her body had only motivation to lay upon a soft surface, whether it be a bed or the sofa. At the moment, Aine was resting on the second, eyes closed but not asleep, legs criss-crossed. Early in the evening, she was alone only with her pokémon, who were back in their pokeballs.

When would Byron arrive back here? Again, it wasn't like she was desperately in need of his company; she only wanted to be lifted out of her current boredom, and be humored by him, as was his tendency toward her as of late. He'd tease her a bunch, and would scoot awfully close to her when they sat together, since the day they rode back in the bus from Jubilife to Oreburgh.

Of course, Aine was aware that she'd heartily received his intimacies with nothing short of enjoyment and diversion. She had went so far as to return them, to shockingly even _initiate _them herself at times, when she felt disposed to it.

The ire she felt for him on the first and previous weeks of their acquaintance was no longer so vigorous as it was then; now she felt so, so much more differently; what it was Aine knew not and dared not find out. Perhaps this was why she was so frightened at the term "lovers" which was suggested by her pokémon, since she did not want to believe that her regard for him was so advanced as to that level.

However, these past days she couldn't help but go into several tranquil reveries about him, in which she'd been thinking nothing ill of him; quite the opposite actually. All that concerned him during these daydreaming states, was full of good and great. She'd find herself giggling about him, which, as she reflected now, sort of caused her to be ashamed.

She still refused to acknowledge any feelings for him beyond what was proper in her view; thence, the word _love _she discarded and if it did happen to cross in her mind from now on, she decided on laughing it off as if it were some largely hysterical joke.

Aine soon heard a vibration close by, that of her small phone, and slowly reached out to the coffee table in front of her where it was. Picking it up, not expecting anyone in particular, she said: "Hello? This is Aine."

"Oh, my dear little thing! You're so evil, you know that? You haven't called me at all lately! How's that?"

Elle. As eager and credulous as ever.

Aine shifted upward on the sofa, and tried to sound natural.

"I haven't felt like it honestly. I've preferred to be alone lately with my pokémon. Nothing personal, of course, so forgive me, if you can...How are _you_ doing, Elle?"

"Great over here, but I was wondering about you! _You_ need to tell me something. A few days ago, you told me you'd be having dinner with Byron...Details, please."

Aine knew she couldn't say too much; a limit she had to set upon herself and her words, as to not make Elle suspect anything that she ought not to have been suspecting. But she could not be too vague either; vagueness brings forth suspicion, as is natural.

"It went very well, actually." Aine began, unsurely. "He made amends for that gym battle I forfeited earlier that day. I couldn't have enjoyed myself any better anywhere else; and he was good to talk to." None of what she said, although rushed, was a lie. Aine's mind soothed and heart softened at recounting the lovely date.

"Like I expected, of course!" replied Elle, and Aine sighed. "He couldn't have been any better, could have he? I'm so proud of him."

Aine agreed, and then there was a silence, which Elle broke.

"Where are you right now, Aine? The Pokémon Center? What do you say we go do something? I know it's pretty late, but - "

"No, thank you," Aine refused promptly; she could not give herself away. "I'm planning to go to sleep early today."

"Really? You aren't normally this sleepy at this time, are you? You can't disappoint me like this! Come on, it isn't too late out!"

Aine yawned, but sat up quickly when she heard some noise nearby. The shaking of keys, of one of them being inserted into the front door's knob, was enough to let her know that she needed to end the conversation immediately.

"Listen, Elle, I'll call you some other time when I want to do something," - the lock was turned, and door pushed open - "But I'm going to sleep and I need to go!" Aine doubly-whispered and yelled the last part.

"You little - " but Aine hung up, not bothering with her friend on the other line. She hid her phone, and made an attempt at a look of normalcy.

Byron soon appeared in the room where she was, acknowledging Aine with a curt nod, though rather startled at her presence on his couch, as if she owned the place. He had also heard her speaking very rashly before he entered, which gave him ideas.

"I heard you talking," he began, laying down his things and approaching her, taking a seat. "What was that about?"

Aine shifted in her own seat, so as to face him. "...I, ah, was talking to a friend on my phone, so it was nothing." Aine remained vague, and continued with: "How was your day?"

His eyebrows raised; she was somewhat odd, he thought, but perhaps it was merely a quirk of hers. "Good enough, thanks," he replied. "Got a lot of work done today...and how was _your_ day, girlie?"

"Mm. I stayed here the entire day, out of pure laziness, to be honest. And don't worry - " she said, as a look of concern formed on him, "I didn't _steal_ anything, and I don't plan on it."

"I hope you don't, girlie," he said solemnly, "I trust you enough to stay here by yourself, y'know; otherwise I wouldn't let you be here."

Aine's color rose; the candid tone in which he made this statement assured her that he meant it, felt it; and up until now she hadn't known that she had so much of his trust. Byron internally scolded himself for letting that slip; but alas, a man in the process of falling in love will make those slip-ups, those which are heart-felt, but are meant to be hidden.

Neither said anything for a while, as Byron recollected something he had been thinking of for a good portion of the day, as well as a few days before.

"Aine, girlie." He commenced, calmly. "Let me get right to it: in about one more day of work at the mine, that Omanyte fossil...will be completely dug out. I'm planning for that one more day to be tomorrow. I _could have_ finished it today...but..." he stopped, making sure of himself and his words, "I thought that _you_ might be interested in seeing it happen."

Aine looked into his eyes for confirmation; those violet-brown ones which held the same look of inhibition from a few days ago; and Aine stored this particular look into her mind. It was one that she had rarely seen, and she knew not that she was the only person to ever see him so humbled.

"What are you suggesting?" She softly asked, but there was no need to, because she already knew what he was asking of her; she just wanted to hear it, clearly.

"I know you aren't that dense, girlie," he said with a chuckle, but went back to his former tone readily, "I'm asking you to come with me to the mine tomorrow. That's all."

"Really?" Aine pressed, all of a sudden feeling playful, something which she could hardly help herself to avoid when she was around him lately, "Well, I'd like to very much, but I'm afraid I'll be busy tomorrow." She was, of course, kidding around, but still awaited an amusing reaction.

"Busy? What could you possibly be doing that's more important - " and then she laughed.

"You - you coy woman!"

A rosy blush overcame Aine as she said, "I'd really like to," and with a confirming voice, "I'll go with you."

"Will you really?" He asked, still tentative, "You're serious?"

"You're offering me to, and I basically just said yes." She stated simply, trying to contain herself.

Byron sighed. "You're a complicated person, aren't you?" She chuckled. "Just be ready tomorrow morning. I won't be waiting for you to get up at noon. You've been sleeping real nicely these last days, haven't you?"

"Yes, and I've enjoyed it," she rose from her seat, with the intention of heading to her room. "But I'll see you in the morning with no problem. 'Night."

"Not so fast, girlie," he reached for her wrist, pulling her down, and by accident she fell on his lap; this intimate contact lasted for a mere second, before instinct told him to push her to the side and her to move as quick as she could.

Nothing was said at length; both needed a little recovery from that unforseen incident. Aine angrily wondered what in the world he had to say to her, as to make him pull her down and make that accidental, awkward contact, so after a minute, she asked, as calmly as she could, "What do you have to say to me?"

He laughed quietly, a little nervously even. "Forget it, forget it," but at this moment he proceeded to take her hand, slowly, carefully, and rubbed his thumb over it, making Aine shiver. "Go to sleep, why don't you? So you'll be more willing to wake up in the morning."

"Right," managed Aine, hastily, as she got up again, "I was just about to do that. Goodnight."

"'Night, girlie."

Aine stopped; and could not help but raise an eyebrow at a sudden realization: that nickname, _girlie._ She never much minded the name before; he had referred to her by it since that day they met in the mine, as a distant term for not actually knowing what her name was. But he knew her name now, and yet he still called her _girlie,_ more often than her actual name, Aine. She wondered if he referred to any other women by the word. She had never heard him call Elle 'girlie'...what if, possibly, the nickname was reserved especially for her? Aine felt a bit warm at the notion...was she held in such a high regard by him as to have earned it? But then, who'd ever know with him? If he saw her in such a respect, he'd never admit it, directly or indirectly, although he _had_ praised her before. She briefly considered confronting him about this, but decided for it another time, perhaps tomorrow.

"You all right?" Byron's voice interrupted her thought process. "You're just standing there, girlie."

There it was again.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Aine assured him. "I was...thinking..."

"What about? Me?" Byron stretched on the sofa, and talked in a tone that showed he wasn't too surprised.

"Ah, not exactly," Aine replied, deciding not to humor him. "I'll tell you about it some other time." And deciding that she really should have been heading back now, she left for her room.

Meanwhile Byron stayed there, placing his head in his palms; grunting, sighing.

Had _she_ ever thought about him the way he did her? Did she have any clue of it, of what he felt? Yes, it took him a while to admit it to himself - those warm sentiments that he once refused to _remotely _feel toward her, were now fully acknowledged by him, and to be honest, he was not ashamed of it. For Arceus' sake, why attempt to deny it any longer? It was only earlier in the week when he took her out, and even earlier when he showed the early symptoms of a man in love: his subtle praise of her. More recently, since the date, he had even advanced to these sort of mild flirtations: the holding of her hand, huskily whispering to her, and purposefully causing her cheeks to redden to the color of her hair. He assumed she didn't mind this, for if she did, she would have openly and physically pushed him away, insulted him, and given him a blatant refusal. In fact, he could almost swear she'd lightly return his advances, for when he squeezed her hand the other day, she squeezed back, and eyed him with a glance of amusement; when he had made her blush, she'd do so toward him as well, causing him to redden _more_ than she did. Did this mean, perhaps, that she may have reciprocated? Certainly not; she was most likely following on with him and did not mean anything more beyond that. Yes, that was it. He was still stuck in the notion that, in spite of her recent generous behavior toward him, she, in all actuality, pretty much still detested him as much as ever, and wisely chose to keep this feeling hidden, so as to avoid any further damaging conflict between them. No, but if that was so, she could have easily refused to go on a date in the first place and definitely would have declined the offer to stay at his house. If she didn't think him at least decent, then why would have she accepted either of these offers? And so, Byron concluded, that Aine must have, at the very minimum, liked him, to an extent, although not as much as _he_ regarded her. He liked her on a whole other level. On the love level.

Perhaps it was in his (and her) best interests to not further their relationship, if it could be called that term. He did not want to jeopardize such a connection by advancing with her, lest any future awkwardness or lack of comfort between them, causing a deterioration in what he deemed to be, a steady-going, even hopeful friendship.

Besides, he was much too proud to admit what he felt for her, wasn't he? That fact in itself, was the main obstacle in his exertion to ever confess to her.

All this reflection was enough to push him to get ready for sleep, and before he knew it, he was laying on his bed, closing his eyes with his mind pleasantly full of the thoughts of a certain other person, who, coincidentally, was in another room in a position strikingly similar to his. It can be safely said, that this was merely the beginning of the season for developing love.

**So...what'd you think? Please, feel more than free to let me know. I think I did well in revealing Byron's and Aine's respective feelings. But tell me what you guys think in the review section; I do heed advice and check over errors that anyone points out (late thank you to the person who told me that I was misspelling Prinlup! I think I've fixed all mistakes concerning that.). I don't underappreciate your reviews, whether they are positive, negative, or neutral. Till' next time!**


	12. A Dug Out Omanyte Fossil

**The latest chapter for this story is up, and I'll let you read at once, so see you at the end!**

**A Dug Out Omanyte Fossil**

"I hope you're still in on your promise, Byron. Once the fossil is completely excavated, you'll give it to me for further analysis. If you don't, we're going to be missing out on any new major information about fossils. And I'm sure you don't want that, Byron."

These were the words of Professor Sanderson, who was undoubtedly expecting Byron to comply with them. The steel-type gym leader, although planning on keeping the promise, was a bit apprehensive. He wondered what else the Professor wanted, if anything.

"Do I make myself clear?" The older man asserted himself.

"There's one thing you _do_ need to clarify." Byron answered. "Once you're done getting all the information for the fossil, you're going to give it back, right? It _is_ my fossil, after all. You can't possibly expect to keep it for yourself."

The Professor's eyeglasses glinted. His lips turned upward, as though hearing something amusing. "Of course. Nobody's denying that you're the rightful owner. Everybody respects you, and you know that. But...you can surely elevate yourself by giving the fossil up to the ownership of the museum, y'know..."

Byron had had enough. He couldn't bear to hear this man speak anymore. Sure, he was a professor, but otherwise, who was he to tell Byron what to do with what was his?

He was footsteps away from the door before the older man called out: "You're not having any problems with that thief you mentioned a few weeks ago, I trust?"

Byron stopped. Gulped, before saying, "No. She's gone. Goodbye, Professor."

Sanderson nodded, and was left alone to do his own thing.

* * *

As if that wasn't enough, Byron's week also consisted of:

"What're you gonna do with the fossil, Byron?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"Give it up to the museum?"

"I may have other plans for it."

"You know, you should probably give it to the museum. They'll protect it and display it and everyone will know that you're the talented miner who discovered it!"

"Yup. Maybe. Let you know later."

The fossil, though he loved it and was proud of it with all his fossil-adoring might, was the source of these nuisances. A man successful in his endeavors must face their inevitable consequences...

Among having to face these consequences throughout the week, he'd wished he could have been spending the majority of his hours with a certain redhead who was doing Arceus-knows-what in his home. Wondering about whatever she was occupied with while he was on gym duty was a decent time-killer...and there wasn't much to do in his home, so what could have she been up to? Especially someone who was a traveling trainer like her. She could be up to anything. Why couldn't _he_ be so lucky? He could have been using his time more productively in the mine, continuing work on the fossil, but he still was obliged to stay here for gym duty, despite the fact that no trainers were going to challenge him sooner nor later. At one point he pondered the possibility of whether or not _she'd_ ever attempt to challenge him again...

But soon and gratefully came the day on which he wasn't required to be on duty, planning on finishing the excavation of the Omanyte fossil.

Rising up from bed, he went to knock on the door of the room where Aine remained, signaling her to wake up and get ready, before he went off to prepare himself.

* * *

"Watch your step, Aine," Byron cautioned, as they trekked through the insides of the mine. "I think you already know how easily you can trip and fall around here."

"Don't remind me..." muttered Aine, recalling the geodude she'd tripped over a few times before.

Aine had risen up early today to accompany and witness Byron in his effort to finish digging out the Omanyte fossil. She was quite animated for it, and slightly in disbelief that she'd been invited to see. To think, that on the day they met, she was the last person on earth he'd wanted near his fossil...

"Agh!" Aine felt a masculine arm around her back, holding her straight and steady. She raised her sight to her companion, who averted his eyes, seeming as if he didn't just effortlessly save her from falling and scraping her knees. "Be careful, I said," his arm was still firmly around her, "Or do you need me to walk with you the rest of the way like this?"

She lightly pushed him away. "Of course not. You wish..." she took a few steps ahead of him, and suggested: "But maybe, I can you beat you there."

Deciding not to wait for an answer, she sprinted off with a flair in her run and a burst of laughter emitting from her. She looked out for any geodude and other rocks, hiking up her bag to the top of her shoulders whenever she felt it slipping off. From a distance behind her, she soon heard: "That's not fair, girlie! But I'll come get you anyway - wait and see!" The tromping sound of running footsteps behind her became audible. Aine sped up a bit, and the "DO NOT GO FURTHER IN" sign came into view. She squeezed into the cave once there, placing a palm on one of the walls, catching her breath.

Inhaled, exhaled, giggled, waited...

Before she knew it, she felt herself being swiftly flipped around. Hot breath warmed her face. A hand shamelessly on her waist. His lips but inches away. "I told I'd get you..."

"Yeah?" Aine tested him. "And what are you going to do now?"

"What do you _want_ me to do is the better question, ain't it, girlie?" After tugging some loose strands of red hair behind her ear, he let her go. Settled himself by the fossil. Aine released a breath in disappointment, further pressed her back against the wall.

She couldn't have really been expecting...she internally scolded herself for having such a whimsical hope. Wasn't it just yesterday when she refused to acknowledge any feelings for him?

Of course, Aine regained herself, we were only being silly and that's all. Nothing more.

She found herself taking a quiet seat next to him. Saw him organizing his tools. Fixing up the area. Focused. Dedicated. As she let him prepare himself without saying a word, her eyes fluttered to the large Omanyte fossil, finding that Byron was right about it. It was almost fully dug out from the hard rock that was surrounding it, beneath it. Before the end of the day, it would definitely be successfully dug out. The rest of the process couldn't take more than half an hour.

The curiosity and want of knowledge that Aine felt toward fossils, especially like she'd felt when she first arrived to Oreburgh, had now returned in its full capacity. She was attentive, ready to soak up details and ask questions. Aine so far understood the basics of fossils and mining, from reading and from previous practical application. And she no longer minded that Byron would be the one instructing.

Aine's gaze at the fossil deepened, recalling that it was a rarity - an unusually large fossil for its kind - and in this fact sprouted Aine's first question for Byron.

"What are your plans for it after you're done?" Aine nodded toward the fossil. "You know, since it's rare and all, I'm curious."

Byron finished up wiping off some dirt that'd been on his materials. An impression of hesitance came off of him, dark eyes radiating insecurity and doubt. At length, he said: "It's funny, y'know, how things don't always turn out the way you originally want them to. The circumstances change quickly, changing the end result..." he paused, made eye contact with Aine, laughed as if he heard a good joke, and shook his head, before continuing, "I actually want to start a collection of fossils, starting with this one. But then there's the guys I work with, and those smartasses at the museum...they want me to give it to the ownership of the museum, so they'll put it on display or whatever..." another pause succeeded as he shifted, picking up a trowel and a pick. "And I have to make a choice soon."

Aine frowned. "But...it's _your_ fossil, isn't it? _You're_ the one who found it and started digging it out. Why do you - why are you concerned for what _others_ want you to do with it?"

Byron regarded Aine with a yearning, nearly wistful look...The kind that expressed adoration and high esteem and yet fear of disappointment..."I hear ya', girlie, but..."

"But what?"

"I can't...I can't risk the way they...they'll think of me..."

Previous memories of Aine's were jogged at this. Their first meeting...His shameless spreading and encouragement of rumors about her being a criminal, instead of taking responsibility for his wrongdoing for himself; anxious for his reputation more than anything else; and it was this logic that was present now, as he spoke these words. How could have Aine so unknowingly forgiven him? If he had not yet taken or admitted full culpability to what he had done to her upon their first week or two of acquaintance, then what was the likelihood of his ever doing something like it again, and if he did, how severe would the impact be?

Aine became a little faint, lightheaded, before she commented: "You're worried about keeping a good rep. Of course." Bitterness was embedded into these words. "I think I've told you that before, haven't I? And yet, it still hasn't gotten through to you..."

"You don't understand, girly girl. Being a praised gym leader and miner isn't as easy as it seems. And I see where you're coming from, but I can't just rebel and go against everyone the way you do it...not that it's a bad thing, of course."

"Yes, you can, Byron. You choose not to, is what it is. Like I said, you're afraid of a bad rep. Which explains why you haven't - "

"Let's end that there, Aine." He cut her off before having to veer off into a topic that he did not feel like addressing. "We're getting distracted from - "

"Why are you so afraid of talking about you did to me? It's okay, Byron, if you are. But if you avoid it like you're doing right now - "

"Girlie, let's talk about it another time. As you can see, we've got to get this going." Byron gestured toward the Omanyte fossil that was waiting to be taken out.

Aine eyed him in an reprimanding manner, saying nothing. She decided to let this one slip, but kept a mental note to return to the subject later.

Byron maintained his focus solely on digging out the fossil now, avoiding the most minimal interaction with his companion. It didn't take long for him to feel guilty for doing so, and for cutting her off too, so, gathering himself, he looked up at her.

She seemed to be as intent as he was on the fossil, so when he stopped to check on her, she became puzzled.

Looking into her eyes, he realized how much of a fool he was, for not staring into them as much as he should have. He barely got the chance to, save a few instances. Her captivating irises were a lovely light lavender color, always expressing one emotion or another. At the moment it was confusion and discontent, but he wondered if he could be able to change that.

"Want to help me, girlie?" He extended his hand toward her, holding a tool in it, "You showed your potential the other day. It only makes sense to build on it."

"But - " becoming flustered, "I don't know how to do much else beyond - "

"You forget that you _will_ know how after I teach you some more stuff. Don't you think you're capable of that, sweetheart?" His voice was laced with pure solemnity, the kind that expressed heartfelt feeling, so much of it, actually, that he had failed to recognize the endearing word he had used to address his companion.

"You really think so, Byron?" Aine let pass by his use of _sweetheart,_ too much affected by his outward praise of her.

"I know it, girlie," he placed an index finger under her chin, assuring her that he expected nothing less of her.

Taking the pick Byron was offering her, while also attempting to hide her blush, she asked: "Where do I begin?"

Out of this question sprouted his instruction and further demonstration of the process, which served as a model for her own work, and although he was essentially letting her do some of the job for him, seeing and knowing that she was immensely capable, he kept careful watch, giving her occasional tips and making adjustments whenever necessary, making sure she didn't cause an incident that might have ruined the state of the fossil. But it didn't look like any such incident was about to occur anyway, as she was progressing quite well. It was so odd of him to be allowing her to work on this particular fossil, considering its value, and her little experience in this field; he would have hardly let any of his own experienced men do this; but a man in love will make biased decisions for his beloved, won't he? At the very minimum, again, he was keeping watch of her work. Aine herself didn't mind much that she was under scrutiny, as it was necessary so that she wouldn't cause a mess.

At one point during the process, she was about to apply one of the tools in a way that might have cracked the fossil open, but thank Arceus, Byron foresaw her mistake, and accordingly stopped her before it took place.

"That's enough, girlie," he said hastily, Aine's brows furrowing in response. "Did I do something wrong?" She asked.

"You were about to," he confirmed, and Aine was about to ask what, before he explained her error and told her how to avoid it in the future. "It's all right, you're improving, and you oughta be proud of that. You catch on quickly to your mistakes and the way to do things correctly, and trust me, that's what you need to succeed in mining..." he uttered the next part lowly. "You're real impressive, girlie."

Once again flushing, deeply affected by his sincere words, Aine started to dislike that she was doing this so much in just one day. It was highly unusual for her to be repeatedly blushing so; compliments she was usually expectant of; they weren't supposed to make her flustered, for goodness' sake! Driven by these feelings, she decided to hide her blushing self: "Well, you're going to have watch out, Byron. I can catch up to your level pretty fast, believe it or not. Become better than you, even."

This made his lips naturally turn upward. "Y'know what, I have no doubt of that, girlie...Now if you'll let me do the honors of finishing this job." And so he reached for his pick, and continued.

* * *

"My Arceus..." was all Aine could manage when witnessing the Omanyte fossil's being excavated out. "I swear, it seems so much larger, much more than before."

Wiping his brow, Byron chuckled: "Well, it's out of the rock it was trapped in before, so of course you now see it in its full size." Aiming to hoist the fossil up to the nearby wheelbarrow, he asked for Aine to bring it for him, who did so.

He gently and carefully lifted the fossil in his arms, standing up, placing it just as softly into the wheelbarrow. Satisfied, his eyes averted toward Aine, who was still gazing at it with awe. It was odd, so odd...here they were, getting along over the very same fossil that had caused hostility between them in their first encounter.

Approaching her slowly, he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close, to which she responded by allowing herself to sink in his embrace, one of her hands so brave as to make its way up to his chest. They intertwined, in a sense, like young, blooming, vigorous vines wreathing, twisting and turning, spiraling against and around each other. The moment, special as it was, could not be ruined; and dare anyone attempt to do so...

"Oi, Byron!" a sudden voice interrupted, coming from outside the entrance of the caveroom. "We've come here to see you finish the job and help you bring the fossil back up!"

The pair involuntarily let go of each other, flipping around to the individual who had the nerve to disturb them.

Unfortunately, the speaking individual was not alone, for he had an entourage of men behind him.

"Ey, Byron? Who's that with you - " the man tried to get a better view of Aine, who at this point, Byron was attempting to cover up.

Aine's heart, meanwhile, started to palpitate really quickly. How could these people, probably workers of Byron's, so rudely barge in on them? How could they find them here? Damnit, wasn't Byron a lot stricter about whom he allowed down here? More importantly, she hoped that the guy at the front of them didn't get a good glimpse of her; how horrid that'd be, if she was known to be hanging out with Byron! At least he was tried to hide her.

He was at the moment also trying to control his unruly men, backing them up and away from the entrance, quieting them down. He glared at the first guy from before, saying, "Mervyn, why in Arceus' name are you down here without telling me of this before?"

"Well, Byron, we wanted to take you by surprise. But I get why you're upset, seeing that you're with someone - " Trying to look over Byron's shoulder, the Mervyn guy soon grimaced, looking as if he came to a realization. "Hey, ain't that...isn't that girl the gym challenger you had the other day?"

The gym leader damned himself for this; how could have one of his workers recognized her?

"Ah, why is she with you...?" The gym worker seemed to be coming to a speculation.

Before he could voice it out loud, whatever it may have been, however, Byron knew he needed to gain control of this situation. "All right! Listen up, guys, I will only be saying this once, and I expect you all to comply. I need you all to return to the gym, to the upper levels of the mine, any place that's not here. I appreciate your wanting to help me, but I don't need it, thanks. I'm finished digging out the Omanyte, yes, and I'm planning on taking it up myself. Is that clear enough for all of you?"

The men collectively grumbled, but acquiesced, following suit with Byron's orders and leaving. Mervyn, the pestering gym worker, stayed, though.

"You didn't answer my question. Why is your gym challenger from the other day with you here? I mean - "

"And how's that any of your business, man?" Byron's tone increased with irritation. "I'm expecting you to follow up the rest of the guys and go. Now."

The gym worker was not in the least bit pleased, but then neither was Byron, and not wanting to upset the leader further, he left, but whatever were his thoughts concerning the girl he'd just seen, were unknown to Byron at the moment, and quite frankly, he didn't care so much, as he returned to the woman in question who was probably becoming either very uneasy, impatient, or both.

"Aine!" He exclaimed, somewhat frustrated with what just happened, but nonetheless wanting to get back to her. Aine turned at his voice, arms crossed, hesitant to say anything, before, "They're gone, right?"

"They're gone."

Aine sighed. "I should really leave."

"Ah! No, stay. Please. You oughta help me bring this up, it'd really save me and you some time."

Aine readily agreed, seeing his point, when he began to apologize to her.

"Damn, I'm sorry that happened. I swear, if I knew about it - "

She stepped closer to him, signaling for him to be quiet. "It's okay, Byron. Just...let's aim to prevent it for the future." Aine then headed toward the wheelbarrow. "Are we going this up there or not?"

Trekking back up with the rather weighty wheelbarrow was a bit of a strenuous exercise, but the tension that was building up as a result of having to completely face those workers when they arrived back up there, overrided the feeling of excess physical effort within Aine. In fact, the tension drove her to push the thing with as much strength as she could muster, so that when they did arrive back up, she'd get the chance to leave the area promptly.

Byron, noticing his partner's anxiety in the way sweat formed on her, and how she seemed eager to rush and leave, he said: "Hey, girlie, steady down there. I'll take care of the situation, I'll make sure they don't focus too much on you. You can go immediately after we get this thing up there, I'm already grateful for all you've done today."

"Are you sure about that?" Aine coughed, her grip on the handles of the barrow getting tighter.

"All right, let me get that," Byron took over both the handles of barrow.

When they made it all the way up, they received a nice surprise in that only a few of the miners were still there, who seemed to be totally unaware of their presence.

Even so, Aine was instantly given the cue to leave from Byron after they settled the wheelbarrow in the correct place, and she gave no second thoughts to doing so. She nearly sprinted for Byron's home, hoping nobody caught sight of her.

Byron was thus left to attend to the fossil in less joy and excitement than before, without Aine, as well as to clear up with his men any arising confusion.

From a nearby work booth, however, the gym worker Mervyn was eyeing the two carefully, his focus especially on the girl. What...what was her purpose with the gym leader?

"Hey! Everybody, has anyone seen Byron?" A high feminine voice asked loudly. "He didn't answer at home, so I supposed he might be here."

"He was just here a few seconds ago," replied Mervyn, who scanned the area, astonished to see his supervisor gone all of a sudden. He faced the blonde young lady who interrupted the men, recognizing her to be Elle, a known friend of the gym leader. She was about to leave to do her own thing, before she was stopped.

"Excuse me? Mervyn? May I help you?" She said, confused.

"Yeah, you can. Come here. We should talk." He managed to get them a corner to speak in private. "You're here looking for Byron, right?" Elle nodded. "Well, like I said before, he was just here - strikes me how he's disappeared so quick - but he was also with a girl, a redhead, who, I recall, was his gym challenger a few days ago - "

Elle's ears perked up. "A redhead? She was a gym challenger?" She pressed an inquisitive finger to her lip. "I may know her. Does she have a clever mouth?"

The gym worker looked confused.

"Ah, you haven't heard her speak yet. Good. But...yes, I think we have the same girl in mind. Why do you ask - " Elle's eyes widened. "...she was _here_ with him? What were they doing?"

"That's what I said. They seemed to be both concerned on the Omanyte fossil, and they were also awfully close, to tell the truth."

"How so?"

He pursed his lips, searching for the right word. "Physically..._physically_ close."

To say that Elle was merely surprised at this would be highly understated. No, her first emotion was disbelief, then disgust, before actually being shocked, which drove her to turn on her heel and go find those two.

* * *

Now in one of the Oreburgh Mine's work offices, by himself, the gym leader placed the Omanyte fossil in a rectangular shaped basket, and intended to leave it there guarded by one of his mine workers for the meantime, while he went off to join Aine at home, perhaps offer her lunch, seeing as noon was about to hit.

About to exit the work-booth, Byron and another human figure clashed, whom the gym leader was almost wired to believe was Aine, when, upon, gaining full sight of the person below him, saw a distinct flurry of flowy, blonde hair.

"Elle?" He noticed, extending his hand. "What are you doing here?"

Recovering herself from the fall, the girl said: "I came looking for you! Didn't find you at home, neither at your gym. I thought you might be here, and I was right - but tell me something. Did you happen to be with Aine not too ago?"

Byron's heart rate quickened. "What you makes you say that?"

"One of your workers told me you'd been with a 'redhead', who, I'm guessing, is Aine, and not only that, but..." she eyed him.

"But what?" Byron was curious to find out what she knew.

"But..." Elle seemed to not want to give away what she knew, but hinted at it in her next question: "Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?"

"No, there never was, never will be." And more than determined to hasten away, an aggressive grab at his shoulder maintained him.

"But you _were_ with her just now, weren't you?"

"I was, and we were only digging out the fossil together. That's all. Really, what are you getting so worked up about?"

"Oh, but then how did you manage to contact her to join you? You two must be..." she paused, shaking away the notion. "Not only that, your worker told me that he'd seen you 'physically close' to her, whatever that means. And you know I don't like to speculate - "

"Then _don't,_ Elle. Whatever you think is happening, it's not. Now if you'll excuse me - " He slid through the door, passing her by.

"Count on me when I say this, Byron, I'll find out whatever's going on!"

He merely shook his head, and tried to forget the ridiculousness that had just transpired.

* * *

The redhead young woman was inserting the key for her host's home into the door, stepping in, closing the door behind her, and moving on to plop down on the sofa.

Her Bronzor was already at it; scolding her, reprobating her, while all Aine wanted was some minutes of silence.

The stress she'd been a victim of soon became enough to exhaust her so, causing her eyes to shut, deep into a nap she was fully deserving of. Whenever she awoke, she could only hope to feel better.

**So there you have it! Thank you to the person who reviewed last; although I was previously aware of the faults you pointed out, your confirmation of it drove me to fix my writing, particularly where dialogue was concerned. I tried to make the conversations more casual and natural sounding, so much thanks again; otherwise I might have continued with my mistake. And, yes, I am in total agreement with your statement that lesser-known characters are not written about as much as they should, a fact that in itself encouraged me to start writing this story in the first place.**

**On another note, I wanted to make it known that I'll be introducing a canon character in the following chapters. He's not that well-known in the fandom, but is roughly on the same level as Byron in terms of popularity; I will also be making them good friends, because I feel like Byron needs someone to consult throughout the course of this fic. I would give you some hints as to who the character is, but I'll best leave it as a surprise. Don't hesitate to guess, though!**

**Lastly, I hope, like always, that this chapter was an enjoyable read; so, please feel free to provide praise or feedback, as long as it's constructive!**

**See you next time.**


	13. An Old, Unreserved Friend

**I'm back with another segment to this fic! There's a new canon character up in here, too, so let's get it! I hope you like him, and the way I write him off. Read on, please!**

**An Old, Unreserved Friend**

Byron was in a haste in his trip back home.

He was not running, no, but neither walking. His pace was more accelerated than usual.

Reaching home, he shoved his main key in to the lock of the door. Nearly sprinting in without closing the door behind him, he saw his guest mindlessly sleeping on his couch.

What had he been so worried about? He had thought she would have collapsed seeing that she was out of breath and exhausted before she left the mine, so to see her taking a peaceful, well-deserved nap was a relief.

Heading into the kitchen to cool down, he left her be. Eventually, though, unpleasant thoughts about what had occurred earlier ran through his head.

He had been spotted by his guys with her...and he could only imagine what their proximity seemed like from their angle - what they perceived to be taking place.

And not so late after Elle appeared in the picture, with her unwanted speculation - and her promise to find whatever may have been going on between the two.

There was _nothing_ going on between the two. Or so Byron liked to think.

A feminine, drawn-out yawn emitted from the living room, and he assumed that his guest was awake, leading him to go back to check on her.

There she was, stretching out with violet eyes slightly open, before finally catching sight of him. "Byron..." she smiled, and he took a seat near her, but not before trying to hide his rising red color.

Aine shifted up so that she'd be on the same level as Byron, and laid her head on his shoulder, perhaps seeking to revive the embrace which had been so unjustly interrupted before.

In response, he laid his chin atop her head, but at the same time trying not become as intimate as they'd been back in the mine. "I hope you're fine now, Aine."

"Better, yes," she replied with sleepiness laced in her voice. "Did you take care of the Omanyte fossil, Byron?"

"I did," he recalled, "One of my workers is guarding it at the moment. I'll get back to it later, of course. I returned here, however, to check on you. You looked like you were about to collapse back there in the mine, so..."

"So..." Aine continued. "You, ah, became worried, didn't you?" She raised her eyes to him, attempting to hold back a smirk.

He laughed, with a little uneasiness. "It's common courtesy, girlie. Don't get all conceited there..."

"More like _un_common courtesy, no?" teased Aine. "Nobody else would care so much. Especially if he has to attend to something more important."

"That fossil isn't more important than you are."

"...Ah...?"

Instantly realizing the effect of that last statement, Byron was unable to form a reply in an attempt to justify himself. How silly in love, how dense a man had to be to release such profound words! It didn't take long for him to begin beating himself over it silently; and he didn't dare look at her. But once he realized that she was still pressed against his shoulder, patiently gazing up at him, he couldn't help but become agitated. He pushed her away, stood up from his seat, walked off, and didn't look back.

"Remember to get yourself something to eat," were his last words before he opened the front door, and stepped out.

* * *

_That fossil isn't more important than you are._

Did she hear that correctly?

In the case she did, what about it precisely caused her to be so overwrought as she was now? Was it, perhaps, the statement's indirect suggestion that she, Aine, held value to Byron? Or, maybe, but very unlikely, he was saying that she was more important than his Omanyte fossil? No, no; neither of those two; what he was trying to say was that he was concerned for her due to her nearly fainting back at the mine! Yes, that was it. Must have been it. She refused to believe that it was anything more, something that it shouldn't have been.

But if it wasn't that, then why did he leave her alone in such a tense and sudden manner? He did not feel frustrated for no reason. She must have sparked in him some feeling...

Aine yawned again, not wanting to ponder this any further, and soon fell back to sleep.

* * *

His agitation over the unintentional sentence that he let slip out, was what led him to suddenly get up and out of his home. Not so much that he was frustrated with her to the point where he was unable to stay in the same place as her, but how could have he said that? 'That fossil isn't more important than you are.' He was barely sure he meant it. Well, he couldn't have; that was the thing. How could his dear Omanyte fossil, something he was passionate about and had worked so hard to obtain, be of less value to him than a girl with whom he had not a very favorable history? Even if she had grown on him the way ripe, healthy fruit does on a Tropius...

At this moment, he was so lost in thought trying to make sense of this all that he was not aware of the path he was taking, to where he was walking. Almost by default, however, he ended up at his beloved gym, a place, which, currently, was preferable to his own home.

Bypassing his gym workers and trainers with quick hi's and hey's, he was planning to go work out in the private area of the gym, which was reserved especially for the leader. Great was his surprise, then, when he encountered a familiar figure lingering in its space.

The guy had his back turned, engaged in whatever he was doing - a pointy-haired, blond young man - tall, lean - clad in a long blue jacket and beige trousers. Byron had some idea as to who this individual was, and cleared his voice in order to get the guy's attention. He succeeded. The blond man swiveled around, fiery orange eyes eager to lay sight on whomever it was trying to get his notice, thin eyebrows raising amusedly at the sight of Byron, with a wide, friendly grin spreading across his face.

Byron's astonished reaction left him unable to exclaim anything more than, "P-Palmer!"

Said young man laughed heartily, approaching the surprised Byron and embracing him with all the warm familiarity of two close male friends having not seen each other in an eternity.

His friend began: "I was waiting for you to appear, y'know, but your workers told me you were gone and I was just on the verge of leaving! How've you been, Byron?" With a amiable slap on the back. "Dammit, we haven't seen each other in ages! With my travels and everything, and your job here...it's absolutely great to see you again, man." Palmer's words brought forth the solace of a close friend's warmth to Byron, soothing the miner to forget some of his current vexations for the time being.

Not the one to lie to one of his closest friends, Byron admitted, perhaps a little vaguely, "I've been good overall, Palmer...my gym work, as per usual, is going great; fossil mining is still the best, most enjoyable thing ever...but..." Byron paused, and ever so slightly, Palmer's enthusiastic grin waned at the word of negation, which suggested that his friend Byron might have been experiencing something unfavorable, causing the young blond to become both intrigued and concerned. "I've met someone who's been giving me a hard time..."

Palmer grimaced. "Giving you a hard time?" Which begged the questions: "Who? Why? Since when?" With the addition of, "...Do you need any help getting rid of this person?"

Byron chuckled. "No, not at all...that's the least thing I want, to get rid of her..."

"You've met a girl?" Palmer's eyebrows raised. "Or is it somebody you already know? Is she that -what's her name? That Elle you've told me about - "

"Oh, no," Byron quickly denied, shaking the idea away. "No, this is somebody else. Somebody I've met...recently."

The ambiguity of his friend's words on the topic made Palmer suspect something a little deeper may have been the case. "Elaborate, Byron. It seems as if you're hiding something."

"I've only met a girl, man! Who's equal parts stubborn and beautiful and smart and - "

"And you're into her." A playful grin spread across Palmer's face, perhaps content for Byron. "What's her name? How'd you meet her? I can see she's got you all riled up."

"No, that's not - "

"It's exactly it, Byron. Y'know, I was expecting to hear a lot of great news from you since I've been gone, but this? To hear that you're...how do they say it? 'In love'?" Palmer chuckled, and Byron could not but release a few stutters.

"Yeah, sure, you can put it that way." Finally gave in Byron.

Palmer laughed, placed his arm around Byron. "Come on, let's go get lunch. You have a lot to tell."

* * *

"So, essentially, you're telling me you hated her at first, went on to spread trash about her, and somehow she grew on you and now you love her?" Palmer raised an eyebrow. "And you expect her to feel the same?"

"Not exactly," Byron said, "If she hates me, she hates me. But I doubt she does anymore. Aine - she's a lot more forgiving than she lets on. And if she didn't like me, why would have she accepted to stay with me in my home - "

"She's _staying_ with you at your house?" Palmer's disbelief of the fact clearly showed.

"It's not what you think," Byron confirmed, trying not to laugh. "She's currently remaining in Oreburgh, so I offered her to stay at my place instead of the Pokémon Center."

"So you could be closer to her."

"So she'd be _more comfortable."_ Byron corrected, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes passed in which neither man said a word, embracing the silence as well as their lunch. This period ended when Palmer's orange eyes raised to look at Byron again, going on to ask: "When are you introducing me to the lucky woman, then?"

"I'm not," replied Byron. "She and I aren't..."

"Together." Palmer finished. "Well, that doesn't mean you can't introduce me to her as your friend."

"She likes to maintain privacy. Wouldn't enjoy your company." Byron laughed at the mental image of Palmer and Aine bonding.

Palmer shook his head and stood up, taking his friend's hand in his own and pulling on it hard. "You're going to introduce me to the girl you love. Let's go."

"She's going to utterly hate you, man - " Byron warned, although allowing himself to be pulled up and away.

* * *

A two hour and a half nap was all Aine spent for herself after Byron left. His comment about her value to him was still stuck in her head.

Her pokémon, as per usual, tried to divert her from the subject by recommending for her to get out and train. Bronzor, in specific, told her:

'You ought to stop thinking about him and the small things he says, which you, for some odd reason, like to over analyze. Let's go! We must go out to eat and train and focus on matters of higher importance. Have you forgotten that this young man is the city's gym leader, whom we have yet to defeat?'

Not so much later, the girl found herself changing to go outside. With her bag and pokeballs readily at her side, she went on to the front door, stepping out, and closing the door behind her.

A naturally good day out, the wind and the sun were at perfectly moderate levels. One could hear the leaves rustling and the bird pokémon chirping, with low chatter and noise from the people and pokémon over at the more commercial part of town. It was great weather for which to use in order to get something off of one's mind, and Aine liked it.

She decided to head on over to the rocky areas of the Oreburgh Mine to train with her pokémon, considering and appreciating the advice she had received before. On her way, she had began to notice a human figure in her peripheral view, whose form was highly recognizable, and Aine groaned loudly at the realization. Byron - he was coming back to his house - but, wait, Aine squinted. A tall blond guy, who appeared to be chatting his heart away with Byron, was walking along with him! As though they were the best of friends. Also worth noticing was that Byron seemed to be _inviting_ this guy into his home - as if forgetting that Aine might have been there and her desire for privacy. What in the world? Aine stopped dead in her tracks, and set her sight only on the pair. Who was that guy? Why was Byron letting him into his home, knowing that Aine might have been in there?

Something terrible happened that instant: Byron turned his head as he walked and caught sight of her.

Immediately, the young woman flipped her head to look away, her heart racing. However, she continued to walk in her normal course, before hearing running footsteps behind her, as well as her name being called.

She stopped, fists clenched together, breathing in and breathing out. Obliged to turn around, she did so, attempting to seem surprised.

"Aine," Byron said again, jogging the rest of the way toward her, that blond guy trailing slowly behind, as though wishing to go unnoticed. "...weren't you exhausted? Why are you back out here?"

Aine tried to keep her words as distant and as short as possible, as well as to evade eye contact with Byron and his blond friend. "I went to sleep; got most of my energy back. I'm on my way to go train."

"Really?" Byron asked, looking back at his friend, who was studying her deeply, then at her. "We'll -my friend here and I - accompany you if you don't mind - "

"Hello there, I'm Palmer." The blond all of a sudden stepped forward, interrupting his friend, and extending his hand toward Aine with a bright grin, making her gasp a little, his equally vibrant orange eyes eager to lay closer sight upon her. "I'm Byron's good friend. He's told me about you, but can I get your name?"

"Aine." replied the girl almost too quickly, shaking his hand. "My name's Aine. Um, this is quite unexpected. I was about to go off, so if you will." She wanted to immediately get out of this situation.

"Would you like us to come with you?" asked Byron again.

"No thanks, Byron," she answered, walking away. "I'll be off." And she nearly ran after that.

One thing Aine knew for sure. When she and Byron got the time to talk together again, she'd be anything but pleased. Maybe this was relatively minor, but anything was possible. She didn't need people eying her all over town, rumors arising again, this time being that she was involved with the gym leader...

For that reason alone Aine preferred to keep private around Byron. Gym leaders were people with a degree of fame. They were always talked about, their lives speculated upon, and she did not want to be a part of the speculation.

Perhaps this Palmer guy was a genuine friend of Byron's, and wished not to be obnoxious to her. The opposite was just as likely, though. His rather outgoing behavior toward her was something to be suspicious of; as if she were a rare, mythical pokémon whom nobody had ever lay eyes upon before. As she walked, Aine wondered if Byron told his friend anything about her that may have been a little _too_ intriguing...

* * *

"You scared her off, you fool." was all that Byron could say after he witnessed Aine speed walking out of the situation.

"Yeah," Palmer placed a hand behind his neck. "I should apologize. Be less direct. Will she come back?"

"She'll return," answered Byron, somewhat hesitantly. He was still worried for her, having been introduced to Palmer so abruptly. "She said she'd be training, so she'll be back sooner or later...hey, Palmer. Let's go inside." He gestured toward his house. "We'll wait for her there. Maybe you can practice not scaring people away in the meantime."


	14. A Comical Fool

**Hi! This chapter's somewhat delayed (I was planning on posting it up last month but I wasn't ****done with it then), but it's here. Also, although I've got a few follows and favorites on this fic, I'm not too sure on how many people are actually reading it. Not that it matters, seeing that I'll keep updating regardless. But it'd be nice if I were to receive some reviews confirming that people are reading. Because, honestly, despite the fact that I'm not gonna give up on this fic anytime soon, the lack of any new reviews does get discouraging. Especially because reviews are my fuel and are always appreciated and paid attention to. On another note, I'd like to acknowledge that this fic's been up for over a year now, which is great! R&amp;R!**

**A Comical Fool**

"That was great, Prinplup! That was the strongest Brick Break I've seen from you in a while!" exclaimed Aine, as the pokémon destroyed a fairly large rock after having been practicing for a while.

"Your turn, Scyther, on that one over there." She gestured for her bug-type companion to start. Scyther ended up performing the move well, too, and Aine made sure to praise her pokémon. Lastly, she flipped around to her Bronzor.

"All right, Bronze," Aine pointed toward another relatively large rock. "Using Psychic, I want you to find a way to destroy it. The use of another move in conjunction with Psychic is optional."

Surely enough, the dual psychic-steel type pokémon performed the move to its greatest ability, obliterating the rock into dozens among dozens of pieces.

"Nice one, as always," Aine complimented, admiring her pokémon's work.

Aine valued spending this quality time with her pokémon, and believed that they were making much progress. Progress, which, would be essential in defeating the gym leader of this city.

After waving her pokémon away to do whatever they'd like in the surrounding area, the young woman sighed, settling down on a rocky ledge and bringing her knees to chest. Training was a great way to be proactive and get certain things off of one's mind, but she eventually had to take a break and now here she was. Thinking about the damn gym leader again. Byron.

As well as his friend...Palmer, wasn't it?

The former young man already made her life hard enough. She didn't need the latter guy to come bursting into the picture and pester her around.

He was so outgoing, too, Aine recalled, with the way he introduced himself. Uninhibited, unashamed, he extended his hand toward her with a bright smile, as if he had heard the best things about her, as though he were meeting the Sinnoh Regional Champion right there and then. What had Byron told him about her that made him behave the way he did? She figured that he revealed something of interest, but it was of no use trying to find out what it was exactly. She didn't like speculating.

Besides, she was angry with Byron for letting something like this happen, and she was going to let him know, as soon as they were alone together again.

For now she thought it was a good idea to stay out here. Perhaps go check on that fossil, wherever Byron had it stored and kept. And when she did go back to his home, she would confront him, unless Palmer was still there. In that case, she'd play along with the guy, maybe humor him a bit, to find out who he was, and what was his purpose.

Getting back up to gather around her pokémon again, Aine soon heard a squeal behind her, feeling two strong, feminine arms hugging her tightly.

This could be none other than...

"Elle." Aine realized, pursing her lips.

"Oh, yes, Aine! You know it!" The blonde exclaimed. "You've been forgetting to call me recently! How's that?" The girl's tone became a slight more serious.

Taking a good look at Elle, Aine could have sworn she spotted a bit of suppressed rage in the blonde's eyes, but surely it was just the girl's swirl of extreme emotion.

"I've been busy," Aine replied ambiguously. "Training, as you can see. I really want to defeat the gym leader."

Elle grimaced. "Only training? I doubt it! Come on, I'm your friend. You've been doing other things, haven't you?"

"Training's been my main focus." stated Aine, although lying.

Elle made a sound of doubt. "Really? Tell me, Aine, where were you earlier today?"

Aine finally raised her sight to the blonde young woman, attempting to seem doubtful herself. "Why does it matter?"

"Because you seem to be hiding something from me, sweetie pie!" She yelled, with a tone of sugarcoated aggression.

Astonished to actually be hearing skepticism from the blonde girl, Aine, as carefully as she could, said: "What exactly do you want to know, Elle?"

Elle placed an arm around Aine's neck, letting her head rest on her friend's shoulders, making the redhead stiffen. "Byron hasn't been answering my calls either. I wonder if you know anything about it, since, y'know, maybe you two have become a little friendly overtime..."

Aine pushed the blonde girl off of her; not too aggressively, but with enough force to send a message. "Friendly? Elle, where and since when have you gotten such an idea? Are you just reading too much into the situation?"

Elle giggled, and Aine hated it. How could someone respond so positively when treated so harshly? "Come on, Aine! Neither you nor I will truthfully deny that Byron is a handsome guy. And I know, dearie, that you were alone with him earlier today, which - "

"How do you know that..." Aine whispered, shaking her head and furrowing her brows. "Elle, if there's something you want to tell me, do it directly. Stop playing this game." The redhead began to call over her pokémon, in case she felt the need to flee from this girl.

"No hostility, please, Aine I'm just trying to find out what you're doing with Byron, seeing that neither of you are responding to me and I'm also starting to hear things about you two!"

Aine questioned the validity of the last part of Elle's statement, and was at this point highly enraged by the blonde's bold, yet unjustified presumptions.

The redhead young woman sighed, and merely asked: "Do you remember what I've told you about believing rumors? If you do, apply that to this situation. This can't be any different." Without awaiting a response, Aine went her own way, her pokémon not too far behind.

* * *

All of her three pokémon back in their pokeballs, Aine was in a haste to escape Elle's view, and not so late after the redhead slowed her pace to that of a calm, relieved walk, knowing that the blonde no longer was behind her.

What was Elle's problem? How could she confront Aine the way she just did, revealing to her what she _thought_ to be going on between Aine and Byron? Her resentful, demanding tone suggested to Aine that the young woman may have had another motive for confronting her that way...

Byron himself.

Yes. Although she never paid it much heed, Aine could hardly ignore or forget Elle's impassioned commendations of Byron and all that he was; her aching expressions of admiration for him; her obsessive, abiding love for the young man. The blonde woman may have felt, perhaps, _threatened,_ by whatever she heard of the pair, and subsequently by Aine herself. The redhead grimaced at the realization; she had never meant to cause a barrier between Elle and Byron. Or, more accurately put, a barrier in Elle's way _to_ Byron. What worried Aine the most, though, was how quickly the word spread on her and Byron in the mine together. It may have been that loud guy in the group of men - Mervin - who let the rumor fly out that Byron was with some unknown female. And while Elle was looking for him, she caught the news and assumed the female was her, Aine.

That must have been exactly the case.

The growing bond between her and Byron, Aine concluded, needed to be kept private for themselves only; discretion was to be their friend. She planned on reminding this to him.

Nevertheless, Aine focused on something that was off of her mind for a while until this moment, as she was heading back to his home. It was the fact that Byron had a visitor over. Palmer, Aine remembered.

Was he still in Byron's home, Aine knew not, meaning that she'd have to figure out the answer the hard way by going back and even talk to the guy himself. However, Aine made herself see the bright side to it. She'd find out more about the young man and his general disposition, and why exactly he was Byron's friend. She'd humor herself with the guy; and surely, none of it could turn out too bad.

Eventually, her guest key was unlocking the front door of her host's home, and with a small tug at her stomach, as well as an awfully increased heart rate, she slowly, carefully, pushed open the door.

_The unknown young male you are worried about is there. I __can sense him. It seems that he is greatly awaiting your arrival. As for your lover - __he is waiting as well._

_Thanks, Bronzor...wait, my_ lover?! _What are you - __we're not - __what in Arceus' name are you suggesting, Bronze?_ In spite of herself, the young lady could not overcome a bit of a giggle.

_Oh, my. I __cannot joke about you and him without your becoming unsettled. But you certainly have something more important to take care of at the moment, don't you?_

The pokémon was right, and she was back in focus. Although the tug at the stomach was no longer present, the pace of her heart was still more rapid than she'd have liked, and for an approximate minute, she could not walk beyond the foyer, to the living room, in which she had heard quite a loud chatter before she came in, having now died down to low mumbles with their hearing her entrance. They're probably giving each other some strange eye contact and gestures right now, thought Aine, chuckling at the mental image.

Tugging her bag off, she strolled into the drawing room and immediately took a seat at an available spot, her sight soon crossing with that of the blond's, Palmer.

Already his large orange orbs were wide, perhaps surprised by her mere presence, albeit also seeming to be intent on her every movement. The woman for whom his best friend had affections, was subject to his scrutiny, subject to his testing, although he was sure she was great enough of a person to be liked by his friend. Byron, meanwhile, did not say anything, not even to greet her, as he supposed that either his blond friend or his redheaded one would take the first word.

"Hi, Byron," Aine smiled toward said man, before facing the blond, acknowledging him with only a hello and a nod of the head.

"Hey there," he met her lavender eyes, which seemed to be challenging him. "We weren't properly introduced before. I'm Palmer, Byron's best friend." He extended a cordial hand, an inviting toothy grin planted on his face. "I hear _you're_ also Byron's good pal." The statement was neatly tucked and delivered to Aine, as if leaving a box of mail at one's door. The redhead needed only to check and rummage through it, and form whatever reply she deemed fit.

"His good pal?" she questioned, eyes meeting Byron, who gave her a gesture to just go along with his unorthodox friend. "What ever may have given you _that_ idea?"

"Byron speaks very highly of you."

The redhead froze momentarily, seeing the gym leader turn away to avoid her eye, while the blond, evidently having let something slip out that was supposed to remain in confidence, seemed to be reprimanding himself internally. Prudently, however, Aine changed subject. "Tell me about yourself." Lying by Palmer on the sofa, she faced him completely, appearing to be immensely intrigued by him, her lips eagerly motioning upward. Palmer was taken aback. "You must have _a_ _lot_ of interesting things to tell if you're Byron's _best friend."_

Behind her, Aine heard a laugh from Byron, while the blonde young man recuperated from his surprise at her boldness. "You're right, you're right, I do have all sorts of stories - but would you really like to know about _me?_"

"Well, you seem like a likable guy - an unreserved fool, no less," - she made a gesture signaling at his entire body - "but there can't be much harm in _that,_ can there?" She grinned, liking that she was tormenting him.

Again, the blond raised his brows in surprise, before grinning himself, and pivoting his head over to his gym leader friend, winking. This young woman was perfect! He himself could feel driven to her by her wit and good humor. The pair continued talking a bit more seriously, mostly with Palmer telling her stories about him and Byron, and Aine offering her blunt opinions on them with a dose of giggling.

"...And you won't _believe_ what he said next - " Palmer was running on in the midst of a story when Byron decided that storytelling time was done.

"All right, you've told enough," he declared to his best friend, nudging him. "You probably don't want to listen to him run on his mouth anymore, do ya', girlie?"

Aine looked at him, a bit upset that he'd interrupted what was very amusing to her ears. "Who's to say I don't? Come on, blondie," she faced Palmer again, "Continue."

Palmer was apprehensive about continuing, looking at his friend for approval. Byron pursed his lips, muttered something, and gave him a begrudging "go on". He went into the kitchen to pour himself and his friends some drinks.

While he was at that, he listened to the natural musicality of her laughter as his blond friend narrated another story, probably exaggerated in its contents and in the intonations of the voice in which the blond spoke. Byron laughed, as he poured the third drink. That fool. But a comical fool at that.

Aine loved the hilariousness of Palmer and his storytelling abilities. She could tell he was being hyperbolic at times, yet that did not make him any less appealing. But even more importantly, whenever he was not exaggerating, she grasped at any new things she learned of Byron. They helped humanize him to her a bit more than he already was. And that was nothing short of good.

The miner returned to the room with two drinks in hand, offering them to each of his friends, who accepted. He went back to the kitchen to pick up his own one, and not so long after arrived again in the living room, taking a comfortable seat next to Aine.

A very comfortable seat.

In one hand he held his glass of wine, and in the other, he held her own free palm.

Like he loved her.

Palmer noticed, but did not let the fact cause a disruption in his storytelling.

Aine only continued listening, laughing, and offering her thoughts and asking questions on the stories, while sipping her wine. She acknowledged his hand with a light squeeze.

This all felt very right for her. Like she was deserving of being in proximity with him and now this rather charming friend of his. If the wine had had more of an effect on her, she would have kissed Byron.

Soon, they began talking pokémon.

She told Palmer of how she wished to collect all eight of Sinnoh's badges, and how she had yet to defeat Byron (as well as how their previous battle turned out), but was in the process of training hard. Palmer raised a brow. That would be intriguing to watch. A battle between a gym leader who was in love with his challenger. Still, he assured her, "You'll beat him." He looked from her to him, then back at her. "You'll do it. I believe in you, kid."

Palmer then related to her how his biggest dream was to lead Sinnoh's Battle Frontier someday. "Nobody thinks I can do it, except for myself, my pokémon, and my good old bud right here." With his wine-holding hand, he pointed to Byron. "Now ain't that true, son?"

"That's true, but you're still a fool."

"Who's your best friend."

"Who's my worst _damn_ enemy."

They both laughed, and Aine finished her drink, trying not to giggle it down as a result of her own laughter. She let her hand go free from Byron's loving hold, and stood up. She wanted to retreat to her room.

Byron, however, thought she wanted to refill her glass. "Hey," he got up after she did, taking her glass, "I'll get more for ya'."

"Oh, no," she stopped him, "I'm going back to my room."

"Really?" He questioned. "I was planning on going back out to check on my fossil again. Don't you wanna come with?"

Aine's eyes brightened. "Right now?"

"Right now, if you want me to. And we'll take blondie here if we have to."

The redhead agreed with a smile, and let Byron and Palmer know to wait for her as she went on to rest a little longer back in her guest room.

When the two best friends were alone again, Palmer was the first to speak.

"She's incredible."

"She is." Byron affirmed gently, as though a breeze flowed out of his mouth mixed in with his words.

"You love her, right?"

Byron could admit the fact to himself, yes, but would he to his friend?

"Yes, I love her."

Palmer nodded. "Good that you recognize that. Will you tell her anytime soon?"

The miner grimaced. The idea, honestly, was repugnant. "Nope. I love her, but she has her faults. Her ego kills me."

It was Palmer's turn to frown. "Man. You say that as if your own ego doesn't exist. When are you gonna realize that? It wouldn't surprise me if this girl doesn't return your feelings because of that."

"Palmer, don't."

"It's the truth, buddy."

The blond had a point, and Byron could have been doing himself some favors by heeding his friend's advice. Unfortunately, as wise as it was, Byron would merely brush it off as a nuisance. Besides, Byron had more things of greater importance on his mind - a particular idea involving his newly dug out Omanyte fossil and Aine. He was convinced it'd turn out great. It'd take some time, of course, especially because the fossil had to be given immediately to a professor in waiting. But it would happen.

He could not wait to see the sweet smile on her face.


	15. A Departure and a Return

**A Departure and a Return**

The redheaded young woman saw the opportunity to finally leave Oreburgh City, but _without_ her gym badge. A rematch with Byron would have been too risky, even with her extra training considered. He was so formidable a gym leader - the strongest she'd met yet - that she could not realistically defeat him without going elsewhere and becoming stronger there first. More importantly, she needed to sort out her feelings about him without his presence there to distract her. Reassuringly enough, she concluded that their mild flirtation together was exactly what it sounded like. _A mild flirtation._ Just a pair of foolish young people loving the art of teasing each other.

At hearing the news of her departure, the only concern he displayed was of the most remote kind. The basic 'Do you know your next destination?' and 'Are you sure you want to leave my city without having beat me for my badge?' type of questions.

The concern he did not display, however, was of the desperate kind. He was dying to see her stay. He did not get to embrace her before she left. All she did, as she balanced two bags of belongings on one of her arms, was extend her free hand, smile sweetly, and confirm the fact that she was going to return.

"You better," he'd said, accepting her hand and twirling it with his instead of shaking it. "Or you're never going to beat the League." She assured him that she was, which made his heart pound, but in his mind he could not pull her in for a kiss without the risk of scaring her away and her eventual return.

Palmer, who was staying with Byron for a couple of weeks, contributed his opinion. "She'll come back! Don't bum yourself out. You've still got a job to do."

Though heeding his friend's advice, knowing there was truth to it, there were periods of time where he could not - _would not_ \- get her off of his mind. His pokémon all noticed it too. Their trainer's occasional yet unpredictable states of reverie and forgetfulness were hard to ignore. Both at his Gym and at home, he'd laugh and murmur whimsically, prance around unknowingly, and repeat her name countless times in various intonations.

He simply would not quit wondering when exactly she would come back.

* * *

Aine won her fourth gym badge.

It wasn't Byron's.

It was a week after she left Oreburgh, and a few days after she and her pokémon landed in Hearthome. They'd trained extensively just in case, and won the gym match handily the first time.

It was nice.

The girl remembered nearly attacking the gym leader to the ground in felicity after their last pokémon fainted. She could not help a high pitched squeal at her win and the confirmation of it with the referee's announcement. Receiving the Hearthome gym badge and a congratulations from the gym leader, she decided on staying and enjoying the splendor of the city for a few more days.

But when that was over - when she had to move onto the next city for the sake of herself and her pokémon - she knew what place it had to be.

She did not mind the idea of returning to Oreburgh, as she and her team had gotten so much tougher - much stronger than originally expected - that her newfound confidence in her team's ability could not be shattered, even by the well known fact that Byron's strength was still on a whole other level, which loomed in her mind from time to time.

To merely see Byron again was extremely appealing to Aine. She could not wait to arrive, knock at his door, and receive his hopefully warm welcome.

Perhaps see Palmer again, while she was at it.

* * *

"So tell me." started Byron, his attention directed toward the professor to whom he promised temporary possession of his rare Omanyte fossil. "Are you almost done analyzing it? Will you give me the report?"

"Almost. And yes, you know I will."

"How much longer will you take?"

"Not much longer, I assure you. A week at most." The professor eyed Byron, curious. "Why are you so impatient? I suppose this Omanyte will only serve as an addition to your growing collection of fossils, so what's the rush?"

Byron's eyes gained interest in the floor, his arms crossed. "Nothing special."

The professor smirked. _"Nobody_ special, you mean?"

Byron's mouth gaped. "I - I don't know what you mean."

"Don't you?" The older man questioned, with tease in his tone. "You know, Byron, you're an awfully talented young man. You shouldn't be giving up brand new offers and opportunities just for a young lady, however many good qualities she may have."

"Who's said anything about a girl?" The young gym leader was tense. "Professor, what are you talking about?"

"You were with a woman about your own age in the mines a few weeks ago, weren't you?" The professor talked as though he'd specialized in the gossipy arts.

The gym leader shook his head furiously, up until this point unaware that he'd been a recent object of rumor around town. He'd assume it made news weeks ago when it _may_ have been relevant, but going on in the present moment? What the hell?

Well, he _was_ a gym leader.

His lips pursed, and he began to walk away and distance himself from this interaction. "Professor, you know how to contact me when you're finished."

"Of course," the professor assured. "But, ah, one more thing."

"Yeah?"

"That young woman you were seen with - she was a redhead, correct?"

"Correct..." answered Byron tentatively.

"Just like that thief you mentioned months ago?"

For a second, Byron's heart had stopped.

"Professor, just do your job." He hastily recovered.

"If you say so, young man."

The professor eyed Byron as he passed, his glasses flashing, a smirk plastered on his face.

* * *

"Do you think Byron _wants_ me to return?" Aine directed to her pokémon, as they headed back to said person's home, a bit of a shy expression on her face as she spoke.

Her Scyther asked why did she care. Didn't Aine feel indifferent toward the guy now?

"Well, as you already know, he's good company. Besides, getting our gym badge from him is our number one goal - nothing else."

Her three pokémon looked at each other skeptically, as if they were aware of something about her that she was never explicit to them about.

She noticed their eerie silence. "What?"

They continued to look at each other, and did not utter a syllable.

Aine crossed her arms. "Something is wrong."

The pokémon confirmed it with their expression, which read, _Are you only now seeing it?_

The redhead grimaced. "I have no clue what you're all upset over. May you enlighten me? I _am_ your trainer - if something is making you uncomfortable, you can always tell me..."

'Byron, the gym leader, the miner, your friend.'

"What about him?"

'You're in love with him.'

"I'm...you're accusing me of _what?"_ She hissed it out.

'It is a fact that's been evident for a while.'

"Has it?" Aine seemed to be pensive, as to what made her pokémon hold such a daring notion. Was it something that had slipped out her mouth? Did she accidentally let go a gentle expression of admiration for him, or maybe an overtly emphatic one? What action was it that she took, voluntarily or involuntarily, that made them think so? Did she flip her hair a little too flirtaciously around him? Maybe a particular embrace was too lengthy and too kinesthetic? Was it so serious that they were justified in going to such extremes as to accuse her of being in love?

She stayed silent for a while.

* * *

"You know what?" said Aine, all of a sudden, as they were approaching their destination, seeming as though she'd given a certain subject a great degree of thought. "I understand where you're coming from. I can completely understand how my interactions with him may have been misinterpreted. Me and Byron? Sure, we've flirted. But I am not in love!" She laughed, her head plopping back. "That's impossible!"

'At least you're allowing yourself the leniency of calling it _flirting._' Her Bronzor commented. 'Soon, it will transform into _in love,_ although we dare argue that is what you already are.'

An itchy, lingering feeling within her tickled her most inner emotions, entertained by the fact that they were approaching his home - she could see far off in the distance the familiar-looking house laid comfortably on a small knoll, right outside Oreburgh City - it made her tingly inside. "There's his house, y'all," she noted out loud. "Your accusations will make me feel awkward in front of him now. Nice job."

They reached his home. Aine extended her hand and rung the doorbell before looking toward her pokémon right behind her. They seemed to be intently focused on her and her expression.

Aine sighed. "Come on, you don't _truly_ believe that I'm into him, do you?" She pursed her lips and shook her head at their absolute confidence in the notion. "You are the worst." She stated, turning her attention back to the door in front of her. The tingling feeling she'd gotten before returned immediately, causing her to briefly adjust her red locks.

"_That_ fast, Palmer?" was the incredulous voice Aine heard directed to her on the other side of the door. She perked up at it but did not reply. "Don't mess with me, man, if you're not back here with food -"

The door was swung open, and she saw him practically dripping wet.

Only a towel for cover.

Chest in full exposure.

His eyes widened and her eyes lingered on the bareness of his body only for a few more seconds, before she realized how improper she was being. She may have heard a scoff from one of her pokémon behind her. Her sight she then directed to his face, which expressed mild pleasant surprise. That was before his burgundy eyes gained a sparkle to them as he realized who exactly it was that was in front of him. In spite of the unanticipated exposure before her, Aine managed to successfully greet him. "You said...you'd welcome me back."

"Yes," he nodded, his gaze traveling up and down to ensure that she was actually there, also noticing her pokémon in the process. He waved at them, then focused back on her. "Uh," he looked down at himself. "I wasn't...expecting you."

She brushed it off, trying her very hardest to maintain her sight off of his irresistible chest. "How have you been?"

"Great," he answered, as he motioned for her and her pokémon to come in, closing the door behind them. "How about you?" He asked. "Did you earn -"

"We did," she interrupted, having already known what the question was going to be, as well as having an increased desire to speak in order to distract herself from staring. Rashly, she removed her badge case from a slim compartment in her main bag, snapping it open, and extending it toward Byron for him to see. "Hearthome." She said in a stiff fashion.

"Nice." He eyed it, and there came the usual attempt to feign disinterest. "But you know not to get comfortable with me because of your newly won badge. I will _not_ make it easy for you, girlie."

That made her crack a smile and momentarily she forgot his bareness. "I wouldn't expect any less from you."

He grinned in return as he reminded himself of the fact that he was partially nude and fully wet as a consequence of having just stepped out of the shower. "...You'll have to excuse me," he said to her. "You just _had_ to arrive as I finished showering."

"Right," she agreed, her eyes this time helplessly befalling his torso. A man more beautiful she had never had the privilege of seeing this exposed before. "You should get dressed."

He nodded and went off to do so, simultaneously smirking in satisfaction and reddening at one particular realization.

She was staring.

* * *

The duo caught up with each other when Byron returned, sitting snugly by each other on the sofa. They were having a good time conversing, with the fits of giggles, laughs, and smiles as well as the growing physical proximity that was becoming inherent to the two. She loved his tone and he loved occasionally twirling one of her straight locks into a curly one.

A ring at the doorbell disrupted them.

"It's me!" called the voice. "You better open up quick! I'm just as hungry as you are!"

"Damn..." cursed Byron, although he seemed more amused than genuinely upset. "Forgot this son of a bitch would be returning." He let go of the red curl he was playing with. "There - very pretty." He smirked. "I do your hair better than _you_ ever will."

She huffed. "Go attend to your friend."

He did so, walking up to the door and opening it. He spoke before Palmer got the chance to say a word: "Shut up," ordered Byron, solemn. "I have a guest here."

"A what?" Palmer raised a brow, taken aback by Byron's seriousness. "Man, what in the world? You invite somebody without telling me? Wasn't it just you and me? Don't tell me I'll have to share - "

"Palmer." Byron halted him. "It's _her._"

"It's who?" repeated Palmer, confused. A few seconds were necessary in order for him to realize the person being referred to, and this made his lips turn upward. "I knew she'd be back."

"So did I."

"But I wasn't moaning to my best friend about whether or not it'd actually happen."

Byron gave him a threatening look.

"Alright, alright," the blond gave in, his palms in the air. "I'll be on my bestest behavior." He exaggerated a disciplined countenance and posture.

"Like hell you will." Byron rolled his eyes, signaling for his friend to enter. "Just don't be an ass." He whispered.

Palmer grinned the moment he spotted her, beyond glad that she had kept her promise to return.

Not for his own sake, of course.

"And who do we have here?" He started off, setting the meal bag aside and plopping down beside her. "You just _had_ to intrude when Byron and me were going to spend some time together, hun!"

Byron slapped a palm on his forehead.

"Did I?" Aine feigned an uncomfortable posture, exaggerating an anxious expression. "I couldn't have come at a more inopportune time, then."

He replied jokingly.

Those two were becoming closer and closer by each and every meeting. It was something that Byron liked, to a degree. He enjoyed seeing his friends becoming attached. Not to mention, it gave Aine a reason to stay, something which he felt obliged to prolong for as long as humanly possible.

Byron, on his own account, was sitting nearby and eating. He spoke only when he heard something he did not like.

"Watch your mouth around her, Palmer - I already told you how she's like."

_"Don't_ watch your mouth around me, blondie. Otherwise I will not be entertained." She'd retort.

The afternoon went by in light joy and conversation, with Palmer taking advantage of Aine's leniency with him in order to flirt with her - not without purpose, of course. A reaction of pure amusement is all that was expected. It would also prove the strength of Byron's love - the blond wished to see how much his friend was willing to defend it in front of her, however indirectly.

At first try, Palmer said, in a tone more solemn than it actually was, "Honestly, you are one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met, Aine."

An already alerted ear became even more so when this statement was uttered. Byron grimaced and immediately turned to his best friend. Evidently he did not take into account the notion that, maybe, it was merely the silliness of a silly friend or even the curiosity of a curious friend that was intended to provoke his reaction in such a way.

Byron let them share a few more words, frowning at the flirtatious fashion in which Aine replied, before he took Palmer up by the arm and led him to an isolated area.

"What are you doing? What do you think you're _saying,_ Palmer?" were the seething questions asked by Byron.

"Byron, I'm just trying to make you see." Palmer said with good will, grasping his friend's shoulder tightly. "She's a wonderful girl. You have to let her know that."

"And put her on a pedestal?" said Byron in a tone heaving with refusal. "No thanks. She's already conceited as she is - how many times do I need to let you know of the fact?"

"I have trouble understanding why exactly that trait is a turn off for you," said Palmer genuinely. "It's exactly what _you_ are," noted the blond, "If you want me to be honest, I've never seen two people more of an exact reflection of each other than you two."

Byron crossed his arms, huffing. "Don't know what angle it is that _you're_ looking from."

Palmer shook his head. "You know, if you're not gonna have her, then..."

"Oh, be quiet, Palmer."

"I'm serious." The blond said with eyebrows up.

Byron brushed it off. "There's something I've got for her anyway."

Palmer's mild surprise was apparent, before he asked what it was exactly that Byron had planned out for the girl, with the young miner whispering to him the contents of what he was to do.

Palmer nodded, nodding the entire time, until he grinned.

"What are you smiling about?"

"You've come a longer way than I thought. To give up something that means_ that_ much to you...for her?"

He was right. Byron would be reaching ends never before expected once his plan came into effect, a plan that would, ideally, speed things up a little with Aine.

In fact, if he had to start at this very moment, he would.

Long after Palmer had left for purposes very deliberate in helping secure the situation for his friend, Byron had been left alone with the young woman and realized he had not prepared what to say.

Seldom ever the guy to allow such a trivial nothing stifle him, he was made uncomfortable by the coincidence - perhaps not much of one at all given the usual dearth of conviction even a regularly arrogant man experiences once he meets somebody who charms and enchants him like nobody else.

He was not looking at her but was sitting near, waiting for what he wasn't sure, occupying himself with the sight of the floor while only taking occasional, very quick glances in her direction.

Aine did not think anything of his silence, it was nothing; but as its extension came about without as much a simple word or comment she felt obliged to check on him. Turning her eyes to him, she asked, in a solicitous tone, "Byron, you all right?"

He stopped fidgeting, trying to assure her that he was fine in the least amount of words possible.

She knew he could not possibly be so.

"You've been awfully silent, Byron..." she began, scooting over in his direction. "That's a sign you've been deeply contemplating something..."

"Like what?" He tried to feign confusion, scooching away from her as she came closer.

"I wouldn't know," she said, trying to look into those averted mahogany eyes. "That's why I'm asking, to see if you're all right."

"Then let me assure you that I am."

Aine furrowed her eyebrows. His hasty and sudden desire for distance was beyond her. It rendered him tense and uneasy, becoming worse as she pressed him for information, and as she became aware of this, she stopped.

It's none of my business, she concluded.

But the behavior was also not expected. He was just fine not too long ago when Palmer was here.

Did it have to do with her?

Recalling Byron's uneasy glances to her direction and frequent shifts on the couch when Palmer was talking to her, she could see why he may have been closed off at the moment.

She turned back to the television, keeping silent.

The silence remained like such for a while longer, until he inched nearer to her and asked the question that had been long lingering in his mind: "Do you want to go to work with me tomorrow?"

He did not quite reveal what his intention was in the question, but it worked in that it captured her attention. She stared at him.

"Work?" she repeated, eyebrows raised.

"Work." He confirmed.

"Right. Why would you want me watching what you're doing tomorrow out of all days, right after I returned?"

He seemed to be trying to conceive an answer.

"I honestly don't know, but have you got anything else planned for tomorrow?"

"No, but -"

"Exactly." She didn't even have to look at him to know that he was smirking.

She pursed her lips, confused at his insistence. Why would he be so enthusiastic about inviting her to his job? She had already witnessed him do it on several occasions and was enchanted enough already all those times before. Not that she no longer wanted to experience that any more, she was just suspicious that he had dropped the question in such an unanticipated yet eager fashion. The offer may have been accepted without hesitation whatsoever had he not proposed it with that rare shimmer in his eye - how dare he make her uneasy like that. Recalling times before when he had asked her to accompany him to work in a regular tone of voice, she was left wondering what made _this_ situation special.

That alone triggered her zestful curiosity, and she no sooner accepted the offer than she managed to contemplate the unusual way in which it was proposed.

He was all smiles and she all giggles, together spending the rest of the evening in calm joyfulness and impatient anticipation.

Which one of two was more buoyant at her return, however enchanted both were by each other, could be considered a close guess by anybody analyzing the duo.


	16. Splitting in the Mines

**HEY. Back here with another update and it's pretty long so let me not waste your time with this A/N. I must say briefly that I love this chapter and hope you all will enjoy it as well. Go on!**

**Splitting in the Mines**

"Wake up, sleepyhead," the drowsy redheaded girl heard after a knock on the door the next morning. She was about to respond when he beat her to it: "Here, open up. I'm not waiting all morning."

"Then go away."

"No, seriously - open up. I have something here for you."

It was quite an effort lifting herself up from the coziness of the bed after such a long and pleasant night's sleep, so Byron better have had something equally pleasant waiting for her when she opened that door, she thought -

Breakfast.

Before her, there was a tray with a wide plate on it, on which tiny sandwiches were positioned in a circular fashion, and in its center were slices of fruit together with French fries and scrambled eggs. Mm, if only there were pancakes, syrup and all, there to please her further, mused Aine.

And her awe at the fact that it was even there, let alone being offered to her, was what stopped her and forced her to think.

"For me?" She looked up to him with a raised eyebrow.

"For you." He smiled at her.

"Hm." She could never quite manage to feign disinterest the masterful way he could. "I have a hard time believing you did this."

"Well, yeah, I didn't make it, if that's what you mean. My cooking skills are nonexistent. No, I got this from a really good place nearby, so lucky for you, you don't have to fret over poisoning."

She accepted the meal. "I'm past that stage with you, thanks."

Figuring out what that meant was not a hard task, and he took it as a compliment. "Good, now eat up and get ready, because you already what's going down."

She bit into one of the small sandwiches on the tray, speaking with her mouth full. "What is going down?"

"I'm taking you to my job, girlie."

* * *

Aine found it pleasurable that she was enjoying the mines after such a while spent unexposed to them. The same familiar conveyor belt that got things from point A to point B to points C and D, the noisy interaction between the workers and the pokémon, the high energy battles that shook the mines from time to time, the earthy smell dissipated throughout every inch of the place. The fact that she liked it so much made her almost forget that this place was also dangerous in spite of its relative security; fascinating and for adventurers. There was an itch within her to know this place more intimately every time she was here.

"Thinking about something?" was what interrupted her thoughts, as well as a nudge on the arm.

"Just...I've not been here for a while. Realizing how much I miss these mines." Her eyes traveled above and beyond her, taking in her surroundings very delightedly. "You're so blessed to be here, practically every day and living your passion, you know?" It was not difficult to discern the enchantment in her violet eyes, the way her expression lifted up even more than it was before. She was beautiful.

"I am," he confirmed, but was set off by the implication she just made about herself. "Are you saying you don't feel the same way about pokémon training?"

She shook her head. "Not at all, what I'm saying is...there's more to my life than training all the time. I love it doing it, but it's not the thing I want to do forever. There...there has to be something else, you know?"

He nodded in understanding. He could not quite empathize, as fossils and mining and digging holes were his first love since childhood, but to feel compassion for her for her insecurity was easy. He only had to think about how his own life would be like had he not had all those things to love and adore and effervesce about regularly. Did she feel as though she lacked this?

Maybe he could change that.

* * *

Just a few days prior to her return had he received the revered Omanyte fossil back, from the malicious professor who had attempted to entice Byron to keep it under the ownership of the museum. As expected by the young miner, the enticing continued: the research that could be done with this fossil; the breakthrough discoveries that were imminent were it to be given to the ownership of the museum; hell, even the auctioning of it; all to be forsaken for a girl who probably would not care about it in the first place.

Not bother was what Byron did, it wasn't worth it and he was confident he wasn't going to regret a thing.

He effectively snatched the clear glass case where the fossil was being kept, maintained safe under his arm. He smiled and walked on, bright eyed.

* * *

He had her by the hand and was noticeably eager to get her where ever it was he wanted to get her to. Aine started to wonder what the surprise was, out loud.

"What is it that you're killing to show me?"

"Oh, you'll see." He said, turning around with a sparkle in his eye.

A matter of minutes and they were where he had wanted them to be. He had not said anything but she could tell they were there by the slowing down of his pace, the fact that they were encroaching upon some opening.

'DO NOT GO FURTHER IN,' she saw.

The sign, although still there with the purpose of keeping people out, was dilapidated, and, she realized, a farther distance away from the cavern than the last time. Clearly Byron had not cared to maintain it for a while now, and Aine blushed as she realized the reason why.

"And we're here because...?" She asked eventually.

"Oh, be patient, Aine." He looked back at her, but his expression was not admonishing. It was lit up, enthusiastic and fervent. And it made her flush, the way he winked at her.

Making the rest of the way in, it was clear to Aine that Byron was standing in front of her with the intention of hiding something from her sight, which impulsed her to speed up ahead of him, but she was not successful in doing so. He felt her quickening behind him and blocked the way with his body, giving her a look of warning.

"Looks like you want to lose your chance at seeing what I've got for you."

"No, no!" She waved her hands in his face. "You've forced me into a lot of anticipation. It's not fair."

He did not reply, just gently took hold of her hand again and led her up to where there lay a sack with an oval-ish, almost spherical object inside it, on top of a rocky ledge. Aine's head tilted in confusion.

"This is my surprise?" She was doubtful.

"You haven't even seen it yet," he said as he untied the sack rashly, excitedly.

Aine crossed her arms, maybe that would help cease the heart thumps that were currently striking the insides of her chest.

The sack was open, and with much attentiveness, he pulled out a fossil that instantaneously struck the familiarity chord in Aine.

"Your Omanyte fossil..." she let out in admiration.

"My Omanyte fossil..." he repeated, hesitant about whether or not it was his. Holding it in his hands, he suddenly forgot how he was going to go about this. "Um-"

"It's beautiful," she said, glittery eyed, her light fingers grazing the spirals of the fossil. He did not slap her hand away.

Instead, he let her explore it, with an upward curving of the corners of his mouth on his face.

"Why'd you bring it back here?" She said, the gleam in her eye disappearing, her tone becoming slightly venomous. "I thought you would've added it your growing collection, or given it to the museum. Wouldn't they have restored it or something like that by now? Make lots of money off this fossil?"

Byron's mind spun, and immediately the first thought to penetrate him was whether or not this was a good idea in the first place. He didn't like being accused, not at all, not by her. He loved her, and, in recent months, was relieved that her opinion of him was steadily improving, if not entirely improved. And then here she was again, remonstrating him for the low expectations she still had of him, reminding him that her distrust in him was still an objective fact - an emotional remnant of their first couple of encounters together. In the haste of his thoughts and emotions, he let slip out the following: "I brought it for you."

Aine's confusion first arose in what exactly he meant with that. "For me? But I've already seen it before-"

"That's not what I meant." He frowned, looking down at the fossil. And then he clarified. "It's for you, I'm giving it to you, you're its new owner - it's not mine anymore." He shoved the Omanyte fossil into her hands. "It's all yours." He repeated in matter of fact fashion, just to make sure.

This is a joke, she thought, with a highly doubtful expression on her face as she looked from him to the fossil, and from the fossil to him.

"It's yours." He confirmed once again with a solemn expression. He gently pushed the fossil back into her hands when she tried to give it back to him.

Aine could only purse her lips, raise a brow. What was this all about? Was he serious? And if he was then how should she react?

The young gym leader was feeling fairly awkward himself at not knowing whether she approved or disapproved of the gift, so he murmured, "I hope you like it," before a taking a step back and seeming as though about to leave.

Aine could not let that happen. "Byron..." was the whisper that made him stop mid-step.

"You...really want me to have this?"

No sign, no word, no syllable of reluctance was released from him.

After she was persuaded that he was being completely serious, she asked why. "I know you have more significant uses for this fossil - hell, since the day I met you this fossil has been your priority! And you give it to me?"

"Of course," he said, as though this were something he did with her everyday. "You deserve it." Humility and flattery flooded her, things she wished she could eliminate, and he continued. "I know how much you want to learn more about fossils. I've seen your passion, Aine. And to me it's admirable. So this is the least I could do for you." His words seemed to be humbled themselves, shy.

"The least?" She repeated, approaching him, as though this was far from the truth. "Byron, you worked your _butt_ off to get this fossil dug out! This is your most prized possession, this is supposed to be yours - and you're giving it as a gift to me?"

He replied affirmatively - no shrugs, no stutters. He even seemed content with the decision.

Aine's eyes fell on the Omanyte fossil once again, her fingers tracing its spirals just like she did before. It was true, she was this coveted fossil's owner, its new owner. And she didn't even have to bust her butt in order to obtain it. It was a little embarrassing, yet more delightful. She chuckled, a wave of girlishness nearly identical to when she had the pleasure of seeing Byron half naked flooding her. Still holding the Omanyte in her hands carefully, she walked closer to her companion and thanked him, allowing all her gratitude to spill out.

"You don't have to thank -"

She stopped him right there, as she diligently placed the Omanyte fossil back on the rocky ledge for a moment, before she went on to kiss him. A complete devouring of his lips.

Realizing that her lips were enthusiastically on his, he placed his hands on her sides and did sliding motions to ensure that she was there, full in flesh. He warmed up.

Aine giggled into his lips as she felt those hands - those robust, affirming hands - and she, considering all the intensity with which they desperately slid down her waist, however much of a consequence of the heat of the moment that was, was motivated further to increase their proximity. She pulled at his hair, pinched his cheeks, and explored his chest, all while she tongue began to ask for entrance.

He, on the receiving side of her affections, did not at all hesitate for a few moments to accept them willingly. Didn't he want this? Hadn't he wanted her? And yet, to return her very bold, fervent kiss was beyond him. To show her that he was just as love in with her as she was with him, if not more, was perhaps a only fleeting thought in his mind, before, to her surprise, he untangled her body from his, set her down, and said, in a tone that was a mix of anger and confusion, "Don't - don't you dare get carried away - t-this wasn't an invitation for you t-to do _that_."

Immediately she looked regretful, having not at all expected him to react so repulsed by her. He had been entirely receptive to her in the early stage of her kiss; why was he denying her now? Was he was nervous?

She tried to apologize, and take hold of his hand this time, only to met with with him slapping her away. "No, no," he exclaimed, confused and irate. "Stay away, Aine. Stay away." Not saying anything more, he slipped out of the cavern as rashly as he could, leaving behind him the woman he loved and the fossil he gifted her. There was just no possible way for him to think rationally at the moment, and with her around it was impossible. He didn't know where he was headed off to, but away from her it certainly was. Away from her.

Aine only stood there, unable to figure out what she was to do next. Eyes starting to water, she condemned herself for allowing this to happen. She was so confident, so secure of herself and her actions, only to be turned down this terribly. That was a direct hit to her pride.

She knew that him giving her the Omanyte fossil had to mean something special, that he must have been so entirely head over heels for her, as would vindicate the fact that he just sacrificed his most prized possession for her. Wasn't that the strongest indicator of love that could exist?

Apparently, no - was what she finally decided as she wiped a few tears and tightly held her chest, maybe to prevent a bursting of emotions being let loose from her. She didn't want to hear herself.

Carefully she took hold of the sack and the fossil it contained within, with the purpose of leaving and trying to regather herself. Whether or not she would return to Byron's house to regroup her bags and get out was not the focus of her mind at the moment, but the prospect of having to eventually do so made her stomach churn. How could she possibly show herself to him after after such a heavy refusal?

She made it out of the mine, and luckily for her, did not encounter Byron at all on the way out. Good, now she could smoothly make her full escape. On to his house, take her things and leave Oreburgh. For good.

She really hoped her eyes weren't red and watery, though at certain moments it was impossible for her to resist thoughts of what had transpired, which of course motivated her to cry further. She wiped off a few tears yet again, while looking at the ground, and when she looked back up was met with a slim blonde figure.

"Aine?" was the concerned voice of the young woman. "Are those -" she nearly gawked at the redhead, before laying a comforting hand on her. "You've been crying?"

Aine shook her head with her hands buried in her face but was not convincing. So much for trying to hide it.

The blonde girl looked momentarily both stunned and diverted, before her expression became genuinely solicitous. "Aine, w-what's happened to you?" When the redhead continued to shake her head helplessly, Elle saw no other way to make her talk than by inviting her to her apartment, where perhaps privacy might induce her to finally do so. "Come on, let's go." Elle wrapped an arm around the miserable Aine, encouraging her to walk, and handing her a tissue in the process, which Aine immediately snatched, desperate for it to be dabbed on her face and remove all sign of misery.

* * *

"Now tell me," Elle began, as they were settled on her couch, having handed her companion a drink of sweet lemonade. "What on earth has happened? You really got a shock out of me. You, crying! I never would have guessed, such a tough girl like you!"

She was met with a face indicating that her words were not soothing, but exarcebating.

"Alright, alright. Take your time." The blonde twirled her hair, looking down at the floor and feigning patience.

"Elle," said Aine, finally, a little croaky in the voice, "Y-you're able to keep a secret, right?"

"Of course!" exclaimed the blonde, "You know that!"

That was all the affirmation needed for Aine to reveal the contents of what had occurred to her not even half an hour ago now. She poured it all out, unknowingly vulnerable, seeming not to regret a thing after she told her story.

Elle's emotions throughout the telling fluctuated. Hearing that Aine was staying at Byron's house alerted and shocked her - her eyebrows rose; what that implied about their relationship concerned her. To be informed of the fact that Byron valued Aine so much that he gifted her his most beloved Omanyte fossil, roused jealousy in her - her lips pursed; listening to the part where Aine recounted the kiss - the sudden, yet meaningful kiss - made her red in the face, drew reasonable spite from her; and it was only when she was told of the direct refusal Aine had had to bear, that her expression lightened up, briefly, before she said, clearing her throat: "You've been keeping a lot from me lately. No wonder you've ignored my calls, and have not tried to contact me at all these last few weeks! Did you think I would judge you?"

"Not at all, it's that...how was I supposed to tell you that I have feelings for somebody when I couldn't even willingly acknowledge it to my own self?" Aine said.

Elle smiled. "Well, now you've been freed from that self-imposed restriction. I know everything now. Only thing, so does Byron, and he didn't take it all too well, apparently..."

Aine cringed at his name, and could not bring herself to reply. Elle continued.

"Aine, there's only one thing we can take from the fact that he denied you. It means that it's no use if you go after him now. From what you've told me, his response was fixed and probably unchangeable. You honestly don't deserve to waste your time going after someone who'll keep on denying you." Elle was very determined on ensuring that this line of thinking would be deeply embedded into her friend's mind, with the purpose of shaving off any chance that Aine would continue pursuing Byron.

Even though Aine was, in her unstable state of mind, unable to discern any possible malice on Elle's side, she knew she could not be receptive to her advice, however helpful it was intended to be, and so she replied: "But...I don't think you understand, Elle. There's no way for me to accept the idea that he doesn't feel about me the same way I do about him. Have I told you about the way he's carelessly flirted with me before, on multiple occasions? The way he's become kinder to me, genuinely kinder? And then there it is again, this Omanyte fossil -" taking the sack, she held it out for Elle to see, to which the blonde immediately frowned. "Do you really think he would have given this to me, had he not felt some sort of way for me?"

It was an extremely logical response; and it was obvious that Aine was returning to her entirely rational self. This worried Elle, she had to say something fast.

"No," disagreed the blonde, shaking her head furiously. "You can't think like that. Why are you so sure that that's the case? That he's completely taken by you? You can't let your arroga-_pride_ guide you, Aine. Just because he's flirted with you - that could mean _anything_ -"

"Yes, you're right, _anything._ And that includes the possibility of him being in love with me." Aine frowned at her friend's reply.

The forbidden phrase up until that point - 'in love' - terrified Elle and astonished her momentarily. Quickly, she regathered herself, continuing on just as adamantly as before, "Again, to assume that he's all head over heels for you is wrong. When you will understand that? You're just feeding your own, um, ego, for lack of a better way to put it. He could have just given that Omanyte fossil to you because he _respects_ you enough to do so! Not because he's in love with you!"

Aine was taken aback by Elle's surprisingly reasonable argument. She would have never considered it on her own. Thus, Aine was forced to be silent.

Seeing this, the emotionally wearied Elle softened, as odd as that was, and said: "Look, the reason I'm so passionate about this is because I care. Seeing you cry is something I would like to not see again. You deserve better -"

"I get it." said Aine, now truly willing to submit to her friend's sage advice, and yet unable to hold back another tear. "You're right, I would've never seen it if you hadn't said it like it is."

Elle regained the natural youthful pink in her face, and offered her friend to take her out to eat. When Aine refused, she offered to go out and buy something and bring it back instead. Aine accepted.

Before Elle could leave, a dreadful thought occurred to Aine, and she spoke. "Dear Arceus, my bags! My pokéballs! I left them at Byron's!" She was in pain once again.

Elle stopped in her tracks, and looked back. "You said you were staying at his house. Has he given you a key?"

"Well, yeah -"

Elle was irritated. "So that means you can go pick up your -"

"I don't want to risk possibly running into him, though! You know that!" Aine exclaimed desperately.

"Right, right - let me call him. See where he is." Elle pulled out her cell, and dialed his number. Aine became silent.

* * *

Byron was so excessively confused at what he'd done. It was this confusion that was making him try to comprehend his actions rather than become angry at himself.

Angry at himself he certainly should have been.

Enclosed within the walls of his office in the Gym, leaning back on his desk with crossed arms and a pensive air, he could not stop playing back the events back at the cavern. He could only recall that she had appeared slightly heartbroken at his reaction to her kiss, and although he wasn't too sure about this, that she seemed on the verge of crying. He really, really firmly hoped that she did not.

He buried his face in his hands, sighing heavily and groaning.

To think how their next interaction would be if they were to run into each other again. Another groan.

Before he could continue trying to figure out what made him react so negatively, he was interrupted by the ringing of his cell. Who dared call him at this moment of distress? His first thought was to ignore it, but whoever it was they couldn't have been that important, and so he could reasonably lash out at them over the phone. And so he answered.

"Who is this?" He said, bitter.

"Oh, hi, Byron!" came the excited voice on the other line. Instead of his original plan, he now wanted to hang up, not wanting to deal with this girl. "You've finally answered me! Where are you?"

"Working." Byron replied, which wasn't necessarily a lie, since he was in the Gym. He also didn't want to be asked to hang out.

"In the gym or in the mines?" Elle asked, sounding impatient.

"Gym." was the stoic, concise reply from him.

Some silence, some sort of uneasiness on the other side of the phone, he could tell. He didn't care, though.

"...Until when are you going to stay there?" Elle finally asked, trying to hasten up the conversation.

Byron had not given that much thought; he had come here on impulse after having become emotionally frustrated. But you know what, he would stay here until he cleared his mind, he decided. Maybe even battle trainers who came to challenge him if any were to come at all today. That would be the ultimate reliever of distress: productivity. He'd just stay here all day until his usual closing time, between eight and nine. Plus, he did not want to run into Aine in case she was making her way back to his house. He gave his answer.

"Till the evening?" Elle asked. "What a pity, I can't spend time with you then! Unless -"

"No, Elle, no. Forget it. Goodbye." He hung up.

As expected, he went back to try to sort out the events of earlier in the morning in his head. An unenviable task indeed.

* * *

"He says he'll be at work all day." said Elle, looking at her cell as though it had wronged her. Looking at Aine solemnly, she said, "This is your chance. Get your things now and return, while I go fetch us some food."

Instantly Aine stood up and nearly ran to the door, relieved at having the opportunity to retrieve her belongings without having to confront Byron again.

"Thanks, Elle."

"No problem," the blonde smiled halfheartedly. Aine noticed.

"How did Byron sound?" She could not help it.

"Oh," Elle tried to seem as though she did not want Aine to hear what she was about to say. "Honestly, Aine, he did not sound miserable at all whatsoever. Like he didn't even regret what he did to you!"

Aine was not successful in keeping a calm face.

"Oh my Arceus, you'll see he isn't worth it." Elle rubbed her shoulder, as they stepped out her door and into the building hallway. "In fact, I'll cut off all my ties with him if it means that I'm being loyal to you, my best friend."

Aine smiled, feeling as though she had never before realized that Elle really meant well all throughout their friendship.

If she only knew the truth.

If she only knew that the man who loved her really did love her, and, who was, at the current moment, thinking of her, stuck in a deep pit of guilt and remorse.


End file.
